Mitternacht
by Fenice Evangelista
Summary: DMCCVX crossover Dante's called to a job to destroy Umbrella and its viruses. But can he stop the new threat named Alexia Ashford? Ch. 9 Return to Hell added
1. Devil May Cry

> > > > > > _A note from Fenice: Well, here's the revised first chapter of the new Mitternacht, formerly Devil May Cry Code: Veronica. Here, at the beginning, I'll have the disclaimer and a recommended list of songs that can help the mood of the story go along._  
  
**DISCALIMER:** I don't own any rights to Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, or the songs I am to use to modify the mood for this fic. Capcom owns DMC and RE, and the companies that produce the music, as well as the bands, own the music.  
  
**RECOMMENDED LISTENING:  
**Dark Horizons-Dargaard  
Angels with Last Plagues- Left Hand Solution  
Am Anfang War Die Fisternis-E Nomine  
Das Omen-E Nomine  
  
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**Mitternacht**  
  
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_Autumn, 1998_  
  
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**The** city lay in ruins, shambles of buildings and vehicles smashed against each other in the street. Streetlights bent over backwards and live wires danced from the splintered telephone poles. Papers littered the area of inhuman silence and stillness, even in the weather. Abandoned police vehicles, overturned, continued to receive information and light up the reflections from the pools of water that sprayed from the fire hydrants. Crimson stains of blood lay splattered against the windshields and windows of the ruins and markings of human insides sprawled along the gutters and sidewalks. Every once in a while a rat or some other creature would take a bite of what was once a human organ and drag it back into their hole under the deserted city. Many dismembered body parts lay victim to the weather inside mangled cars and deserted buildings, half-eaten decapitated heads of human beings lay around their desks or in the halls of buildings that they worked or lived at, their twisted mouths open for a scream no one can longer hear. Welcome to Raccoon City.  
  
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_Summer, 2001--Raccoon Rebuilt......... destroyed again.  
_  
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**The** Undead walk and the Demons rampage inside the buildings and the mansion that housed a full base of scientific experiments underground. Survivors of the human race have either been feasted upon or escaped. The remaining S.T.A.R.S. members in the city have fallen victim to the undead and in their last moment had called an outsider of another region. The dying young man who slumped near a dismembered body that had a cell phone dialed a solitary number, and a password afterwards.
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>>>>>> "Devil May Cry..." The receiving end rested upon a rather young looking red- leather clad man, his boots upon the desk. A half-eaten box of pizza and half a dozen empty bottles of beer lay upon the desk and in the wire wastebasket. In the corner was a half-broken drum-set and near the wall was a pool table. Indeed, it was a shabby place, but it was business. Outside in neon lights was the cursive sign "Devil May Cry" and on the end of the sign was the outline of a woman holding twin handguns that looked recently fired. Inside, the man listened. Dial Tone. And then a broken connection to a despaired man on the other end.  
  
_"You're th... who'd ta... dirty job... Dante... Rac... oon City's lo... Zombies everywh... S.T.A.R.S... no surviv... 2 Mill in th... prison... Island..."_ interference kept the man from hearing the whole information. The caller was suddenly interrupted by a loud crash and then a scream broke out, killing the connection between the two men. Confused, the red leather-clad man hung the phone up and contemplated, tapping the air with the foot resting on top.  
  
"Raccoon City... Raccoon City... I've heard that name before." The man known as Dante Sparda leaned back in his swivel chair, picking up a half-empty bottle of Budweiser. He held the mouth up to his lips and thought a minute before connecting the liquid to his taste buds. He thought back to the strange call he had gotten only a minute ago. "Zombies? S.T.A.R.S.? 2 Million in the... 2 Million!?" Dante sat up suddenly. "Fuck! That could get me a better apartment and perhaps I could upgrade Ebony and Ivory," a small smile played at the half-demon's lips. "They were saying I could keep that money - but... where is it?" he stood up and headed towards a bookcase that held a scrapbook of old newspaper clippings. Pulling the book out, he walked back over to the desk and did a piss-poor job of cleaning the surface off before setting the scrapbook down and opening it. Inside were articles about supernatural and somewhat impossible happenings around the areas of New York City and Raccoon City. And of an isolated island that held a prison that was run by the Umbrella Corporation.  
  
"Raccoon City..."  
  
He scanned over one of the larger articles about the lab inside Raccoon City and a bio-experimental weapon that could infest your mind and supposedly make you a more powerful being. Thought to have been safe, the 'virus', as it was called in the article, somehow escaped and infected the lives of the citizens of the city. The T-virus.  
  
Dante looked away from the article and glanced at the clock. "I think it's time to call in some help on this one."
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>>>>>> Enzo Ferino was not a fairly small man, but not a fairly large man either, with dark hair and eyes to match. He kept his wavy shoulder-length hair tied in the back and kept his goatee neatly trimmed. He, also being in the line of business that Dante was in, was used to seeing stuff about the supernatural. That's why he wasn't fazed when Dante called him at 10:00 at night wondering about Raccoon City, Umbrella and a biohazardous virus that seemingly turned everyone into a living dead.  
  
"Well come on over, Sparda. My computer system can track anything down, and it's just a matter of time before we started to work together, eh?" The younger of the two hunters said smoothly, aiming a dart at the bulls- eye whilst sitting on his desk. One eye was on the mark and the other was closed for better aiming. He shoots.  
  
"We're not working together," came the dull reply form the other hunter. The dart veered off and hit just outside the bulls-eye. Enzo choked down a gulp of air. Dante continued, "I just need your so-called state-of-the- art equipment to help me figure out what this message is I received ten minutes ago."  
  
"... Sure..." Enzo muttered as he fished around for another dart. The needle- like end stabbed into his forefinger. Cursing softly, Enzo put the finger to his mouth to keep the blood from dripping on his furnished desk.  
  
"Great. I'll see you in a few." Dial tone. Ferino hung the phone up and chucked the last dart in frustration. It missed the mark completely and shot into the wall, leaving a beautiful little hole to place a nail. Enzo stared at the not-so-close-but-no-cigar miss for a few agonizing minutes. The rent was due soon and there was a pretty hole in his wall. The landlord would love that.  
  
"Goddamnit." The man shot off the desk and ripped the dart out of the wall, luckily keeping the hole the same size as it was before. He cursed softly again, tossed the dart on his desk and headed over to his computer room when he heard the door open. He turned and faced Dante. "Jesus. You just flew over here, didn't you?" Dante kept an impassive face but a small tint of red formed on his lightly tanned cheeks behind his platinum-white hair. "Well, come on in, I was just about to head to my computer and fish up the info you need."
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>>>>>> Following Enzo up to the computer room, Dante found himself looking at the full-blood human's living-quarters. The furnishings were pretty antique- looking and a bar stood between a bookshelf and an entertainment center. Beer mugs and shot glasses were strewn around on the surface of the bar, as well as half-empty bottles of Jack, Rum and tiny bottles of Tequila.  
  
"You sure know how to live," Dante muttered, turning back to Enzo.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Ferino trailed off as he opened the door to the computer room. He headed inside and sat at the computer, Dante following. "Let's start with that bizarre phone call you got, then." He held up a hand and Dante placed a small disk in the open palm to analyze and clear up the static. Placing the disk in the drive, they listened.  
  
_'You're th... who'd ta... dirty job... Dante... Rac... oon City's lo... Zombies everywh... S.T.A.R.S... no surviv... 2 Mill in th... prison... Island...'_ the crash of wood and broken glass, then the scream of a frantic and dying man. Enzo glanced at Dante. "You always take the weirdest jobs." Turning back to the computer and not waiting for Dante's response, Enzo began to type rapidly to begin to clear away the interference. He played back what he'd achieved thus far.  
  
_'You're the handyman who'd take any dirty job, Mr. Dante... Raccoon... oon City's lost and now isolated! Zombies everywhere... S.T.A.R.S... no survivors... 2 Mil in the palace prison... isolated Rockfort Island! Please Hu...'  
_  
"Replay the part with S.T.A.R.S. Clear it up," Dante instructed. Ferino grumbled but did his job.  
  
_'Oh God, S.T.A.R.S.--there're no survivors here now!'_ Enzo looked at Dante, who stood calmly, thinking. After a couple of minutes of absolute and uncomfortable silence, the older of the two hunters spoke: "Dig up information of S.T.A.R.S. I have a feeling I should know them from somewhere. And Umbrella." Enzo nodded and began to search old newspaper clips online.  
  
"Dated July of '98... _'Founded in New York in 1967, the privately funded S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Squad) organization was originally created as a measure against cult-affiliated terrorism by a group of retired military officials and ex-field operatives from both the FBI and CIA.'_ Interesting enough, this group branched out into the Midwestern Raccoon City to assist the Raccoon Police Department with their problem."  
  
Dante raised a delicate eyebrow. "Zombies...?"  
  
"Exactly. Apparently the T-Virus was an experiment back in '98 at an isolated underground lab near a mansion in the forest."  
  
"The Spencer mansion," Dante replied. "I've heard of that. It exploded on the 22nd of July... I heard it on the news."  
  
"Then you must have heard that the RPD took S.T.A.R.S. off the murder investigation?"  
  
"Of course," the platinum/white-haired man spoke. "I just didn't catch all of it." Enzo scrolled down and found the article from the 'Raccoon Weekly'.  
  
"Six of their team members were killed, along with their captain, Albert Wesker - " Enzo replied. Dante blinked. That name seemed all-too familiar to him. Wesker... Albert Wesker... "Since then, Umbrella moved their operations to Europe."  
  
"... What about that prison? Clear up the part about the prison."  
  
"There's nothing to hear. The guy says it all. 2 Mil in the palace prison on an isolated island. What more do you need?" Enzo shot a look at Dante before going into a file to find the coordinates of the island. "Not that I have the coordinates to the island, but I could look them up for you--hey wait! Where're you going!?" Dante stood at the doorway and placed his hand on Ebony's holster.  
  
"That's all I needed for now, thanks."  
  
A skeptical glance, and then, "How do you think you'll get to the island?"  
  
Dante smirked. "I have my ways."
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>>>>>> Enzo gazed at the open door for another long minute before he realized what Dante must have meant by "I have my ways". He blinked, rubbing his chin in contemplation.  
  
"How would he afford a plane? Guy's as broke as I am..." he looked to the computer again and scrolled down to a clipping from 'Enquirer'.  
  
" _'Wesker lives, Return of the Living Dead.'_ Whoo, gruesome picture." He kept that clipping on file as he flipped through more.  
  
" _'Woman Found Dead on 14; Famous Bounty Hunter Potential Witness.'_ Famous bounty hunter? Dante... is this why you're so bent on this job? To forget about what happened to Trish?"
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>>>>>> ****
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>>>>>> **Claire** Redfield stirred at the sounds above ground. Her cell's ceiling shook violently as the sounds of war rang outside. She stood up diligently and held onto the bars, still unable to believe that she was caught off- guard. Her brother was the best marksman and one of the best ex-S.T.A.R.S. and yet when it came to her own quick-wit, she was as clueless as Chris. The door to the outside opened and a figure limped through the darkness to the door to her cell. Taking out her lighter, Claire struck the flint and exposed the room to a miniscule light. She jumped back as the face of her captor, a pained look on his face, unlocked the door and opened it. He sat in his chair and brought out a small bottle of Hemostatic medicine, examining it.  
  
"Perfect," he spat as he chucked the empty bottle to the floor. "Go on, get out of here. This place is finished."  
  
Claire couldn't believe her luck as she went over and picked the green herb she found in the corner of her cell, feeling she might need it later. Inquiring about why he let her out, Claire listened as her captor spoke about a raid and that everyone was dead.  
  
She glanced at the empty hemostatic and decided to help him as well.When he urged her to go again and she did, placing a combat knife in her pocket and a clip of 15 handgun bullets from his desk. Unfortunately, she realized he wouldn't make it that long, and he probably had a clip-full in his own gun. She needed to protect herself somehow, after what happened in Raccoon City and in Europe. She crossed the narrow and dank hallway and made her way up the stairs to observe the devastation. A truck obscured an easy way out as oil leaked from the engine. As she made her way through the gravesite and towards another door, the truck exploded and a briefcase spilled out, as well as a burning body! The body that was once a man stood and started towards the source of life that his simple mind had sensed. Trembling, Claire brought out her new combat knife and backed up more, giving herself room. She tripped and landed near a gravestone, where a cold hand shot up from the ground and grabbed her wrist. Squealing with panic, Claire scurried away from the hand and stood quickly, watching as four previously dead bodies rose from the ground. Pallid, nude and genderless, the creatures slowly walked towards their warm-blooded prey. Claire was surrounded! She tried to make her way through and around the creatures, but one grabbed her. She pulled away and scrambled to the door, opening it frantically and slamming it shut, collapsing her weight on the wooden barricade.  
  
Sighing inwardly, Claire stood shakily, using the door for support, and headed towards another exit when a spotlight headed in her direction and a barrage of bullets sprayed from the automatic rifle above in the lookout tower. Claire dodged behind the crashed truck and found herself next to a decaying body. But it wasn't the body she was looking at. It was the handgun! Putting the knife away, she picked up the gun and aimed at the spotlight. She shoots. The protective covering and the bulb of the spotlight shattered and in the dark, the rifle stopped. Claire shot two more times before a boy yelped and held up his hands.  
  
"Wait, wait!" He looked up from the shield. "Huh? You're not a Zombie. Hold on! I'm coming over!"  
  
Claire stood patiently as she watched the lanky redhead jump from the tower and meet her at her shield. "Sorry about that little misunderstanding. I thought you were another one of those mon- " he shut up immediately as Claire shot her gun up to his face. "Who are you?"  
  
"Relax, beautiful. I said I was sorry. My name's Steve Burnside. I was a prisoner on this island..."


	2. Rockfort Island

> **Disclaimer:** I WISH I had true rights to this stuff ;  
  
**Recommended Listening:  
**Schwarze Sonne-E Nomine  
Left me for Dead-Rob D  
  
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**Mitternacht**  
  
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**D**ante flew overhead towards Rockfort Island, his Devil Trigger in good use ever since that damned Mallet Island incident. His wings flapped powerfully as he recalled why, exactly, he was going to a prison island. _'Is it the money? Or is it the fact that this has been going on since '98 and it needs to be stopped?'_ Another thought crossed his mind. _'What would Trish think about this?'_  
  
After Mallet Island, Trish and Dante had the business named _**"Devil Never Cry"**_, but it seemed all-too blissful as one of their missions went horribly wrong, leaving Trish fatally wounded and Dante to face up to some sort of human experiment. He could distinctly recall his name: Albert something...  
  
"Wesker. Albert Wesker." Dante growled, his Trigger giving a burst of speed. "He's still alive and I'll hit this jackpot as well."  
  
Wesker had escaped, leaving Dante a scar across his back and a dead partner. He promptly renamed his business back to its original "**_Devil May Cry_**", because he knew that one day that son-of-a-bitch would weep when he went up against Dante Alighieri Sparda.  
  
Then he saw it: Rockfort Island. The prison area seemed to be ablaze, and it seemed that there were no survivors there either. He touched ground just inside the prison and killed the Trigger. All but winded, he decided to go through a door just to his left, his red-leather trench coat fluttering in the heat and breeze. Dante's unruly hair stuck to his head, wet from the downpour that should have put out the blazes but didn't. He opened the door with a tiny shove, the wood giving an eerie 'screech' as it opened diligently. Training Ebony and Ivory, he gazed cautiously around the area, noting a metal "chicken-wire" door with a padlock on it. Shaking his head, he decided to walk around the small house. It seemed too quiet.  
  
There was an awful stench in the air, like decaying flesh, exposed, and burnt insides, which made Dante stop and observe a body of a dead prisoner on the ground. As he walked toward it, the body was dragged inside and under the house by what seemed like a savage animal. Dante blinked and kept his thoughts to other things. His instincts led him to Rockfort, and he wanted to know why.  
  
Stepping over the fresh blood, the half-demon turned the corner, training his handguns to the front. When nothing was in his path, he sighed inwardly and walked to the end of the side, spying a door on the end near the "chicken-wire". Cautiously, he opened it.  
  
The stench grew worse as Dante heard moans of the undead. Almost overwhelmed by the putrid smell of the creatures, Dante nearly missed getting grabbed by the closest of the group. He commenced firing.
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> Claire had heard the shots being fired as she watched the last of the zombies fall in the mess hall. She figured that it was that Steve kid and paid no mind to it, heading to the bunks of the dead prisoners. Claire opened the door to the bunks and gasped for air suddenly as the stench of death overwhelmed her. Treading cautiously, she observed and filed a prisoner's journal. A pounding at the window drove her curiosity and she walked to the end of the hall, spotting a stray magazine of bullets. The banging on the window hardened and the glass caved, the zombie crashing through and startling Claire to back up. A set of MT100's dropped from the zombie's belt as it shuffled toward her.  
  
Acting quickly, Claire fired on the walking dead until it hit the floor then moved to where it came in and picked up the other guns, placing the first in her pack. Cocking the MT100's, she commenced fire on two other zombies heading her way.  
  
She sighed. Everything was quiet again, except for the distant wails of the other Zombies and the putrid stench of death they all gave off. Exploring the area gave her yet another box of bullets for her handgun, but she still decided to use her weapons sparingly. She didn't know when she'd get any more. As she made her way back through the bunks, she heard a male's cry of alarm coming from near the observatory. Making haste, Claire ran through the quarters and jumped down the stairs outside, slipping and nearly falling in the mud from the rain, and made her was around the shack, barely noticing the red stains leading under the house. Bursting through the door that lead to the observatory, Claire looked down and saw a trail of fresh blood as well as tons of used caps--from custom-made handguns--she figured. She bent down to examine the blood.  
  
_'It's not from the zombies... could it be Steve?'  
_  
With a brief hesitation, Claire stood and listened to the rattling of the fence by the zombies locked in with the guillotine. She trailed the blood and found the door kicked open and on the floor was a red fabric of some sort. Blinking in confusion, Claire stepped closer to see that it was red leather--  
  
--A trench coat with a sword on the back--  
  
--It was a person! Claire immediately kneeled by the wounded figure, careful not to tread on the blood-puddle. A ravaging zombie-bite was on the neck and, for some reason; they collapsed after only a few seconds of being infected. She brought out a green herb and mashed it on the floor, placing it on the infected area afterwards. The figure groaned, a spasm of pain shooting through their body. Suddenly, Claire found herself staring down a rather beautifully designed handgun.  
  
"Who the fuck are you?" the wounded man, as Claire observed, asked darkly as he cocked his gun.  
  
"You're hurt. Let me get you to a chair so I can properly treat you," Claire said softly. The man's cold blue eyes softened a bit underneath his platinum hair. He smiled confidently. "Sorry babe," he began as he pulled himself up, "I can take care of myself."
> 
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> _'Damnit!'_ was the first thing that came to mind as the bullets ripped through the undead, _'what next?!'_ Three down, four to go. Dante had much confidence that he could whip out Alastor and slice the demons in two, or he could blow them away with Ebony and Ivory. Such a decision, and a rather easy one on his part.  
  
Click. Click, click, click-click.  
  
"Aw shit!" He was in a slight state of shock that he didn't realize an undead was closing in, moaning for the blood of the half-devil. It pounced and latched onto Dante, sinking its rotting, but sharp, teeth into Dante's tender humanoid flesh. A short cry and he kicked it off, unattaching Alastor and ripping the undead to shreds.  
  
So suddenly, however, that by the time it was over (and it was over in seconds), Dante's head hurt so much that his vision was blurry and he felt feverish. He thought he could make it to the building. Dante kicked the door open so forcefully that it nearly came off of its hinges, but that was the last thing he remembered until he was jolted up by a pain in his neck. He snapped up Ivory, training it on a beautiful young woman who didn't look much older than nineteen.  
  
"Who the fuck are you?"  
  
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Dante felt weak. Whatever it was that bit him was sapping his energy rapidly. His head was killing him and his sight was blurry. Whatever it was, the girl knew something about it. And she was kinda cute, come to think of it.  
  
"Don't call me babe. My name is Claire. Claire Redfield." Dante shrugged as he introduced himself. He hissed painfully as he brought his hand to the open wound. "What the hell are those things?"  
  
"Zombies. I know it sounds like something from a horror movie - "  
  
"Or a hit video game," Dante muttered. Claire glanced at him and continued as she brought out a small solution of what looked like green goop from that weird herb she put on his neck (he observed the crushed contents on the floor, as he was lying next to it). And THAT hurt about as much as the pounding in his head.  
  
"Why are you here in the first place? Drink this." She said as she handed him the vial. Hesitantly, Dante placed the mouth of the bottle to his lips. He choked down the first swallow and gasped for air, coughing for a few seconds to rid his mouth of the bitter-sour flavor.  
  
"What the hell is this!?" A warm aftertaste homed to his pleasured senses. "Tastes like shit," he replied as he finished the bottle of liquid. Claire smiled softly.  
  
"Hopefully it will keep you from becoming one of those things out there. For some reason, the process is a lot faster in your blood. Your metabolism must be high or something," she replied as she stood up, holding a hand out for Dante. Dante dismissed the hand and stood diligently, the makeshift potion working it way through his body slowly. He still felt dizzy as he held onto the wall. "Perhaps I should help you?" Claire asked. Dante shook his head.  
  
"I've been through much worse." He replied. Claire shrugged and stopped at a safe box in the metal detector, dropping off her weaponry and anything else metallic. Dante felt he should do the same, but he didn't want to. "Let me go first. Just in case there're more of those demons."  
  
"The metal detector--" Claire began to protest, but Dante waved his finger in her direction.  
  
"You stay here and trip the detector. I always take my boys. For protection." Walking forward, Dante watched as the girl stepped out of the way. The alarm went off as Dante ran through to the end of the hallway, Triggering to speed up and rolling underneath the safety shutters before it slammed to the floor. _'All clear,'_ he thought as he stood and dusted himself off. He pushed the reset button and leaned up against the wall. Not only did the Trigger work wonders for speed, he felt at least remotely better. Until he killed the Trigger. "Ah, shit..." Dante groaned as the potion, the herb and the Trigger reversed its healing and made him feel worse.
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> Claire watched Dante with disbelief as he ran through the hall and turned the corner. _'Already he's beginning to be a show-off.'_ she huffed inwardly as she waited to trip the detector. 'Men.' She considered just leaving him there, but he was a survivor and he was injured, so she decided to stay.  
  
_'And besides,'_ she thought, _'I can't go anywhere else, this whole place is fucking locked up.'  
_  
She heard the mournful sounds of the Zombies outside, and she almost felt sorry for them. They had once been human, Umbrella employees, prisoners or whatnot. They didn't deserve this. No one deserved anything that Umbrella did to them. Claire glanced at the button and listened as the alarm stopped. Taking her 9mm out of the safe box, as well as her other metallic items, she aimed carefully and pulled the trigger. A direct shot to the system and the detector was dead. She smirked as she casually walked to the other end and saw Dante leaning on a table, looking at a clipboard and glancing at a machine from time to time.  
  
"What did you find?" Claire asked. Dante started and looked at her, his pale blue eyes glazing over slightly. Claire stepped back and was about to raise her weapon when Dante spoke, the glaze leaving for a short time.  
  
"Some sort of duplication machine. I'll check around here, I see you have your weapons as well."  
  
"I destroyed the detector." Claire replied sincerely. Dante nodded and turned away. She felt a bit weird having his back turned to her, like he was about to transform into a Zombie or something. He WAS infected after all. Why couldn't she shoot him and get it over with?  
  
There could be a cure. It wasn't like she liked him or anything, she just felt he needed a chance to live--to survive this horror like she survived her other horrors with Umbrella. The things she still had nightmares about. Maybe - if there was a virus, it was most likely that there was a cure.  
  
"Like I was saying. Check that other room. Looks like an office." Claire nodded and headed for the door, turning the knob slowly. She was right, found herself in an office, and a cluttered desk with papers. Ticking near the other side of the bookshelf unnerved her slightly, but she decided, since she had her 9mm, to go along with it and explore the cramped space. Claire held up her weapon and trained it in front of her then turned the corner.  
  
"Chris Redfield..."  
  
It was Steve again! What luck. Claire stood; a hand to her hip. "What are you doing?"  
  
Steve turned and looked at her. "Chris Redfield... are you two related or something?"  
  
"He's my brother, why?"  
  
"Aah, you're siblings," Steve muttered and turned to the monitor again. "It just so happens that you brother is being monitored by Umbrella."  
  
"What? Why?" Claire gazed intently at the monitor, hoping for it to give her the answers. "I have to tell him..." she was glad that Leon decided to stay behind with Chris and Barry, so using the keyboard, Claire E-mailed the boys to inform them of Umbrella's scheme.  
  
"Why don't you give them the coordinates of this place too?" Steve answered with a hint of sarcasm that Claire didn't hear.  
  
"Good idea." Steve glared at her from behind her back.  
  
"You don't mean that. You think they'll come? They won't and you'll be disappointed, just wait!" he snapped and ran off. Claire blinked and shook her head. She knew they'll meet up again and she'll find out what his problem was.
> 
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> 
> Dante knew it was only a matter of time before the virus or whatever it was took over. Claire had said that she wondered why the infection was faster with the half-demon. Dante knew. Knew what he was and knew his metabolism was higher than that of a full-blood human.  
  
But he wasn't going to let anything as petty as this get in his way.  
  
As he watched the redhead boy run off, he stood and walked towards the computer, where Claire was searching for something... anything...  
  
"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm. Claire didn't respond right away, instead she glanced in a drawer between the computer and an old-fashioned typewriter.  
  
"A few 9mm clips, a first-aid spray for you, here," she said as she handed him the First-Aid spray. "What are you going to do? I'm going after Steve... I... the--I mean--I'm worried about what might happen... to both of you."  
  
"You shouldn't worry too much about me. I'm a grown boy--I can take care of myself," the half-devil mused. Claire pursed her lips, but a glimmer of laughter shown in her gray eyes.  
  
"Then don't get hurt again."  
  
Dante smirked confidently, standing--or more specifically, leaning--on a shelf. He glanced at the computer's screen.  
  
"I've E-mailed for help," Claire stated. Dante nodded and she took off into the other room.  
  
He exhaled. It was getting harder to keep up the machoism, and he itched all over. He looked at the spray and wondered if it would help any. Maybe if he Triggered and sprayed it on the wound. At least his Devil Trigger kept the infection at bay, and he always felt better afterwards.  
  
Claire walked in again and toward a lever, examined it then pulled it down. Dante stared at her, the outline of her features becoming fuzzy. He then headed to the computer and sat down on the floor heavily after she left. He wanted answers.  
  
_'But first, I need to keep this thing at bay,'_ he thought as he stood again. _'Just Trigger and spray. Not so hard...'  
_  
Dante felt hot and sticky,_ 'must be some symptoms,'_ but when he Triggered, he felt a slight decrease in the temperature. He set the spray down and took of his trench coat, then his vest and shirt. _'No time like the present,'_ he said to himself as he aimed the nozzle of the can to the infected area, wincing as the cool antiseptic hit the burning wound.  
  
"Dante, you're such a baby," he growled and set the empty can in the garbage, shrugging his leather on again. He felt remotely better, but could still feel whatever it was eating at him from the inside. At least his skin didn't feel like a million ants were crawling on it.  
  
He was about to head out the way he went in, but a door opened ajar caught his attention. He stepped over to the door and peered out. Something was holding it, keeping it from opening. Still in Trigger, he pushed as hard as he could to budge the door. It creaked slightly and opened just enough for him to get through. Killing the Trigger, Dante squeezed his way through the tight door and saw the thing that obscured his path: a large crate. He scoffed and jumped over the obstacle, heading towards another "chicken wire" gate.  
  
Dante smelled the vile stench of death before he even opened the door. He reloaded Ebony and Ivory, and shot the canister of flammable contents before reaching for Alastor and slicing what was left of the burning Zombies. He sighed and decapitated the last of the small group before checking out a building to his right.  
  
Not only did it reek of putrid zombie, the building had a sickening sterile scent that made Dante want to gag. Those two scents mixed did not leave for a happy stomach. He labored his breathing slightly as he cautiously tread through the building.


	3. Alfred Ashford

> **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.  
  
_A note from Fenice: I'll tell you now, a couple of these songs (i.e. E Nomine) will be repeated. I think them sort of a theme for a few of these people... and maybe good battle music? You'll see Schwarze Sonne a couple times, as well as a song I'm going to be using in this chapter which I believe represents Alfred Ashford.  
_  
**Recommended Listening:  
**Angst-E Nomine  
Ghost Ship-Devil May Cry original Soundtrack
> 
> -
> 
> -
> 
> **Mitternacht  
**  
-  
  
**A**lfred Ashford watched in the monitor room of his beautiful palace. Watched in one camera the girl fighting off the dead; another, the redhead boy and in the other... something caught his eye.  
  
"Alexia, dear, come and look at this marvelous piece of work," he replied, a small smile forming on his feminine lips. His twin sister Alexia, downed in a gorgeous lilac dress and satin gloves, glided over to the monitors.  
  
"And what, exactly am I looking at, dear brother?" she asked, smoothing out a strand of pale golden hair from her face. Alfred pointed at the red-clad silver-haired form pressed against a wall, his twin pistols trained in front of his lithe body.  
  
"Where had he come from? Certainly not a prisoner." Alexia whispered. Alfred tilted his head slightly. "Perhaps... perhaps he's gone after Redfield, but if he had... they would have left by now."  
  
"Could it be that he's the one who attacked our precious island?" Alfred wondered. Alexia smiled.  
  
"No matter. The mouse is in our hands now. He won't get away. Neither of them will get away. Brother, you set a trap for our dear... knights. I have an idea."  
  
"Of course, Alexia," Alfred replied, gazing intently at the monitor that held the red-clad "mouse".
> 
> * * *
> 
> Steve Burnside just didn't care anymore for the fact that he was stuck on this island Hell... just wanted to get away. He could have sworn he knew every inch of this God-forsaken place, but where the Hell was that airport?! He took a small silver-enamel plate with a hawk on it out of his pocket and gazed at it. Perhaps, he thought, perhaps this thing was the key to him getting the Hell offa this island and back to civilization... like he cared anyways for other people. They just let you down, right?  
  
A mournful cry from behind him told Steve to get his ass in motion and use the emblem to open the gate.  
  
He knew that Claire would go after him for answers, but if he could get away beforehand... past the gate and the bridge, Steve found himself before a metal staircase; which would lead him to "Psycho-boy's" palace, or so he heard. "Psycho-boy" Ashford, who pleasured himself with torturing the prisoners, while he watched and sipped wine. Steve shuddered. He decided not to think much more of it until he met up with Alfred and gave him a piece of his mind.  
  
"Done with Umbrella. It's gone when I get outta here."
> 
> * * *
> 
> Claire wandered past the observatory and towards the gate where Steve was most likely heading (there was no other place to go) when she heard a low growl emitting from underneath the prisoner's mess hall. Having had experience with undead animals before in Raccoon City with Leon, she took off, not looking back as massive Doberman-German Shepherd mix zombie-dogs snapped at her heels and aimed for the throat. She trained the 9mm behind her and shot off two quick fires, hitting one of the dogs as it let out a pained whine. The first one fell back and the second raced ahead, pouncing but found itself in direct fire. Claire pulled the trigger.  
  
The second fleshless dog fell as limp as the first. She didn't hesitate a moment. Taking off for the door, Claire heard the dogs get up again, and the steady 'plip' of the blood hitting the ground. Claire spun around and aimed carefully as the foaming dogs charged. She feigned an attack and flung the door open, slamming it closed. As she turned to breathe out, she realized her troubles were beginning as she had about 17 bullets left and four zombies between her and the gate to the bridge.  
  
"Shit."  
  
Claire took careful aim; hopefully the bullets shoot through the dead cells instead of lodging themselves like they do in living creatures. "Right." Claire pulled the trigger.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dante found himself in a secret room full of bloody, torturous goodies.  
  
"I'd go for some masochistic S&M if it wasn't for those damned ugly demon dead." He muttered as he shot the putrid, rotting corpses in an angle no human would think possible.  
  
Click... click, click, click, click...  
  
_'Just my luck,'_ he thought sardonically as he holstered his guns and brought out Alastor. _'Outta bullets AGAIN and it's only the beginning of the night.'_ Alastor seemed to sing as Dante sliced the corpses in half and walked downstairs, looking at one of those medieval torture coffins-- the ones with the spikes on the inside... iron maiden? He pried it open with the blade of his sword and jumped back as another putrid rotting corpse lunged at the half-devil.  
  
"Not tonight, sweetheart," Dante growled and kicked it in the head, decapitating the corpse; sending the head into a few spikes in the coffin. Dante blinked, spotting a small parchment on the floor of the torturous bed. He picked it up.  
  
_'Piano roll? These went out of style in the late 20's... when people actually LEARNED to play the stuff... I guess... I guess it could come in handy,'_ he thought as he stuffed the parchment near Ebony. Taking one last look around, he scoffed and retraced his steps to find Claire and... the redhead; Steve.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Claire ran. She had no time to think, she just ran. Away from the zombies, leaving her with only 10 bullets in her 9mm and she was saving her MT's for later use. She needed bullets! She needed them fast! She needed them NOW!  
  
As she ran through the large metal double-doors, she spotted a jeep. _'They ALWAYS have spare magazines in their vehicles!'_ Claire's heart raced as she stopped in front of the jeep that lay half on the bridge. In a small fit of panic, she fished around for another clip and found two more. She exhaled deeply and went on her way to find Steve again.  
  
Heading up the steps she found herself staring at some sort of palace gate. She recalled the guillotine behind a fence and the prisoner's journal; reading about a torture chamber where this guy, Alfred Ashford sits back in a comfy chair and drinks red wine while he watched you die slowly. She shuddered. Dispatching the zombies in front of her, she entered through the gate--  
  
--And found herself face-to-face with Dante again.  
  
"How the FUCK did you get here so fast?!" Claire cried out while placing her handgun in the holster after she clicked the safety on it. Dante just shrugged and held out a piano roll. "Piano roll? Where'd you find it?"  
  
"In a torture chamber."  
  
"I had to ask." Claire glanced at the fallen dogs behind him, apparently cut in half.  
  
"Ran out of bullets," he said simplistically," Decided to use Alastor. Come on, let's go in the mansion. I might find a couple new clips for my guns."
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dante leaned on a pillar inside as Claire closed the mansion doors. It seemed like a good place for him to dwell, if he had that money promised for completing this mission... whatever it was. Well, whatever, he was going to take the money anyways. He couldn't stand living in the city anymore; too many places for the Demons to hide, real OR imagined.  
  
"The whole place is locked up, except for this room up here. Check that room over there," he heard Claire order. Dante sighed and jumped the top stair to land before the door. Opening it, he heard the high shriek of bats.  
  
A bathroom.  
  
With bats.  
  
What a nutty mansion thus far.  
  
Dante dove in and rushed for a small briefcase before being bitten by a bat. He swatted it hard, making it hit another, sending both falling to their impending doom. He took a first-aid spray for the next fix he needed and left the bat-infested bathroom.  
  
"Hey Claire, check that room up there. I'm going to try to open this case, or give myself another dose of health-spray that works like shit."  
  
"No problem."  
  
Dante looked up just as the door shut and sighed.  
  
Sooner or later she'd figure out he wasn't full-blood human.  
  
Perhaps she already did.  
  
He decided to sit at the computer desk and stored the hopeless briefcase underneath. As he began to prop his feet up on the desk, he hit the mouse. The computer brimmed with life, the tower's fan humming softly. He gazed lazily as the screen's background read **_"Umbrella Corporation"_**. Completely off-track, Dante began typing on the keyboard to at least try to get more information on his new enemy. He wasn't completely computer-illiterate, but the new-age machines frustrated him to no end.  
  
**_'Employee ID'  
_**  
"Shit. Confounded contraption."  
  
"Need help?" he heard Claire from above as the door closed. "I found an employee's identification tag on the floor. Oh, um... what size bullets do your guns take?"  
  
"They're .45's and might I ask why?"  
  
"Well," Claire started as she stood by him and took out a few magazines of bullets and placed them on the desk as well as the ID. "That's why. I found them while snooping the safe room." Dante looked at her and said sincerely, "Thanks."  
  
"Are you any good?"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"With computers, I mean. Are you any good with computers?"  
  
Dante looked away as he reloaded Ebony and Ivory. He was going to get shown up by a woman... but only in the high-tech shit. "I didn't grow up with them."  
  
"Oh come on," Claire moaned as she entered the ID into the computer, "You don't look a DAY over 24."  
  
Dante flushed. _'That's what you think.'  
_  
"Ah! Yes, we have full access to the mansion. Come on, let's go check it out!" Claire exclaimed as she straightened up and headed away from the computer. Dante stood up, pocketing the rest of the clips.  
  
"You're really into this suspense horror, aren't you, girly?" Dante wondered with a hint of sarcasm. Claire shot him a look and warned him not to call her 'girly' either. Dante scoffed, shrugged and said, "Whatever. Let me go first."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Dante stared at her. "I've been in this business for 20 years. I can handle these... _"Zombies"._ Nothing but humans that once were... demons now. You see them all the time... well, I do. As such, let me go first; make it safe for the woman to go through."  
  
Claire scoffed. "You are so full of shit." she exclaimed and walked through the door. Dante stared at the door for a few seconds.  
  
"Trish used to say that..." A though hit him. _'Wesker... I know that bastard's here, I can smell him.'  
_  
A short cry ended his thoughts and he burst through the door and with demonic speed pounced on top of an undead and shred it with Alastor. He glanced back at Claire who was reloading her 9mm, bleeding from the arm.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
She nodded. "I ran into a ceramic pot, my arm broke through and the pieces grazed it. I'm fine. Oh! A red herb..." she walked over and clutched the dead-looking plant, mixing it with a green "herb", as she called it.  
  
"This place is beyond unnatural. It's so much like a mission I went on before." Dante began before walking past Claire and her herb mixture to slice an undead in half who was waiting around the corner.  
  
"Really? Where was it?"  
  
Claire seemed interested. Dante turned and rested the blade of Alastor on his left shoulder. "A place in the north Atlantic near France. Called Mallet Island."  
  
"I've heard of it! Wasn't that where the castellans died of a cultist plague? I heard they worshipped this three-eyed fallen angel named--"  
  
"--Mundus."  
  
"How--"  
  
" --My mission was to investigate Mallet and destroy the god Mundus... as he had destroyed my family."  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Dante."  
  
"Think nothing of it," Dante muttered coldly and opened the door.
> 
> * * *
> 
> A small warning sound alerted Alfred Ashford that his mansion had been, in fact, breached by two, if not three intruders. He knew it had to be his play-rodents. He scooped up his favorite hunting gun, a .22 with laser shot and headed towards the mansion, a wry smile forming on his feminine lips. He'd save his sister from the rats, even if he had to botch up her plan and kill them all.
> 
> -
> 
> Even the gorgeous one in the red leather.
> 
> * * *
> 
> "Something's wrong..." Claire muttered as Dante watched the film containing two towheaded children watching as a wingless dragonfly was being maimed by an army of ants. "I can feel it in my bones."  
  
"Well, Sherlock, the fact that we're on a deserted island with dead guys trying to eat us, not to mention the way that that kid was acting, running out of the observatory like that, I've ran out of bullets, not once but twice, I'm infected by some virus as you keep saying, and there's a crazy guy somewhere on this island running around, probably watching every move we make. YES, I believe something is wrong. QUITE wrong."  
  
"Cut it with the attitude, Dante, I mean it," Claire growled. Why, oh why was she there with such an asshole? She rolled up the film screen and found a monitor viewing a hidden room that no longer was hidden as Dante rearranged the room.  
  
"Steve! He's not moving..." she hit a button and the door to the room sprang open. Running in, she grabbed Steve by the arms, noticing gold- plated guns in his hands. She pulled him out and waited for a minute before forcing air into his lungs.  
  
Dante coughed and pushed her aside, immediately noticing the guns.  
  
"Gold Lugers... Man, I want to live here. Creepy or not."  
  
A curse from below. Claire looked as Steve woke up.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
He stood up quickly and faced Claire. "I'm fine. I see you've found yourself a bodyguard. Cool."  
  
"Where'd you get the Lugers?" Dante asked. Steve found himself face-to- neck with Dante. He stared up, looking slightly intimidated. Pointing to the hidden room he answered silently.  
  
"It was a trap then. No wonder you'd passed out."  
  
"Right. They're mine now," he said as he ran off.  
  
"Hey, Steve! Rrgh! We need those!" Claire called and ran after.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dante stayed behind for a few minutes to get a better look at the room... a rich-man's collection. He had guns of all shapes and sizes. Dante curiously walked into the hidden room and grabbed a few more magazines for his guns and spotted some things to his liking. Wondering why someone would pass up a 12-gauge and a saw-end shotgun, he picked them up and a few boxes of shotgun rounds. It was then that he decided to follow Claire.  
  
A shot sounded and Dante tripped slightly, regaining his composure quickly as he burst through the door to the main hall--  
  
--Only to be shot at himself.  
  
Rolling behind a pillar, he loaded the saw-end and aimed at the upstairs balcony.  
  
One shot.  
  
"Dante!" Claire hissed.  
  
"Dante, is it? Ah, yes... the cold-hearted Demon Hunter... what brings you to my island?" The voice from the balcony.  
  
"Something led me here, and I intend to destroy it." Dante peered out from behind his pillar to take a look at the one with the snobbish voice. An older version of the boy in the video. So that must mean... "You know how it goes..."  
  
"Ashford. Alfred Ashford. This is my fort... my prison, and I shall not let you destroy it!"  
  
One shot from Ashford, ricocheting off of the pillar.  
  
"So that's YOUR torture chamber? You should clean it once in a while," reload with one hand, "The blood spawned demons." Dante pulled the trigger of the saw-end--  
  
--And heard the bullet rip through clothing and flesh, listening with a maniacal thirst for wanting to hear Ashford scream in agony.  
  
"Argh!" the blonde psycho-boy whined in pain. "You'll pay, Son of Sparda! Pay with your own flesh and soul..." an annoying giggle and he was gone.  
  
"Pay with your own flesh and soul? Does he know you're infected? Dante? Dante?"  
  
"What?! Maybe. Come on. I'm getting sick of this place."


	4. The Demonic Infection

> **Disclaimer:** This story is mine, but the characters aren't. Sigh  
  
**Recommended Listening:  
**Requiem of Gods-Symphony X (Castlevania)  
Furious Angels-Rob D  
  
-  
  
-  
  
**Mitternacht  
**  
-  
  
**C**laire noticed for that one split second of silence that Dante's eyes glazed over just slightly. He hadn't used the spray like he said he would.  
  
He lied to her.  
  
But she decided that now wasn't the time to ask questions.  
  
She followed Dante out of the mansion.  
  
"There's a door I bypassed when I ran after Steve. Let's check that out. I have to find some medicine for my captor." She said smally. Dante glanced at her.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's the one that let me out of the cell I was held up in. He's injured severely and if I don't find some hemostatic, he could die."  
  
"Heroics..." he then muttered something else that Claire could barely hear. "So this door you found... it's up ahead?"  
  
"Yes. Hey wait! Where are you going?"  
  
"There's a dock this way. I'll check it out and meet you--"  
  
"--Why don't we just stick together? We don't waste as much time and bullets."  
  
Dante scoffed. "What about your friend, Steve there? He doesn't waste any time to just go off on his own. We split up to cover more ground."  
  
"I'm coming with you then." Claire replied defiantly.  
  
"Why are you being so difficult?!" Dante roared and hit the wall with a force so powerful, so hard, that his fist left a hole in the wall. "There's a good Goddamned reason why I want to go alone! I don't like being held back by a partner! That's why Trish died! I work alone!" Dante turned away, but only after Claire got a glimpse of crimson eyes.  
  
--Creepy.  
  
"You wouldn't stay with me to protect me?" Claire whispered. Anything to not be alone in the Hell called Rockfort.  
  
"Why should I protect you?" he growled.  
  
"Because I'm one of your only ways out of here."  
  
"I can get out of here ANYTIME I want to, you stupid girl! Nothing's holding me back except..."  
  
"Except?"  
  
"Look, just forget it, Okay? Come on, let's go through your door."
> 
> * * *
> 
> Alfred Ashford winced in agony as Alexia wrapped the bullet wound in gauze after cleaning it out.  
  
"Dante? The Son of Sparda? Demon Hunter extraordinaire? That's who it was?"  
  
"Yes, sister. And he's with that Redfield witch."  
  
"Brother, you tried to defy my plan." Alexia purred as she tied the bandage a little too tightly on purpose.  
  
"Ow... I'm sorry, Alexia, but it's for your protection. Oh, the speed of that devil."  
  
"He's infected. It can work to our advantage, dear brother," Alexia tittered shrilly and walked to a shelf holding her dolls. Picking one up, she began brushings its hair softly with her hand before ripping the head off. "Waiting for him to turn could be less time depending on how long he's been infected."  
  
"Eventually he'll turn on Claire and she'll be..." Alfred giggled maniacally. "Oh Alexia, let me play with them some more. Let me turn the OR1's loose."  
  
"Of course, the Bandersnatches. Lead them into the bay-area. I have full confidence in you."
> 
> * * *
> 
> "Nothing... nothing... shit shit shit... hmm... some facility."  
  
"For being a pharmaceutical company, they sure don't have much medicinal supplies," Claire muttered. Dante nodded in agreement as he panned the bare shelving in a small lab. He already had to take out a giant worm and two dead scientists, and he was feeling pretty shitty. He knew he should've treated himself when he had the chance.  
  
"Well, no medicine. Every inch of this room has been thoroughly checked."  
  
Thump, thump... _BANG BANG BANG_!  
  
Dante whipped around, Ebony poised in attack as he faced a glass pane. A worker had been locked inside and he was dying slowly by what looked like electrical shocking.  
  
"Claire... go downstairs... now..." He heard the door open and footsteps down the stairs, knowing that after their last ordeal with Dante's short temper, she would obey instantly.  
  
And she knew he was infected and it was getting worse.  
  
The worker's flesh had deteriorated and melted off in small patches off the face. The nervous system was most likely infected by... Dante looked behind the worker... an explosion of glass... meaning that there were creatures either still in the room or in the working of the facility. He found a scientist's scribble on the desk that talked about a new experimental species that could grow quickly. Whatever. Dante wanted to face it if it meant getting off Rockfort with 2 mil.  
  
He could almost hear Enzo when he returned to the city with the money. "Look at that, Dante! Zombies and C-notes to the ceiling!"  
  
An alert brought him back to his senses when he realized that the worker collapsed on an emergency lockdown panel. The half-demon rushed downstairs, the tail end of his trench coat nearly caught by the shutter.  
  
"Well that was fun," Dante began sarcastically, then dusted himself off and led Claire to the next room.  
  
They had already been to the locker rooms and pathetic little shower room, where there was nothing but zombies and more zombies. No medicine.  
  
"Too quiet. Reminds me of Mallet."  
  
"Reminds me of how Raccoon City was when I went to visit my brother, Chris." The two remained quiet for some time when Dante surprised even himself.  
  
"_'If I traded it all... if I gave it all away from one thing, just for one thing...'_"  
  
Claire looked at him. "Finger Eleven...? We're in a desolate dead facility and you're singing that?" Claire chided, her eyes filled with laughter. Dante smiled slightly.  
  
"It broke the silence; I couldn't think of anything else to sing." He opened the door and trained his twin handguns, panning what looked like a cobblestoned courtyard. He then mock-bowed. "After you, m'lady."  
  
"You know, every time I think I have you figured out, Dante, you change directions."  
  
"I'm going to thank you for that... that was supposed to be a compliment, right?" Dante replied as he followed her into the courtyard. Suddenly he heard what sounded like a loading of a rifle, the bullets settling into the chamber before being shot out. He saw the familiar laser sight and dove at Claire before feeling a ripping sensation of pain run through his back and out his chest. Ignoring the pain, he rolled off Claire and shot twice at the bastard Ashford. The first bullet missed, but the second one grazed Alfred's cheek and he sped off. Dante stood up and helped Claire, the pain immense. "After him--"  
  
"You're wounded--"  
  
"After him, I said! I'm fine!" he spat and jumped the stairs, leaving a fresh trail of blood behind.
> 
> * * *
> 
> It was only seconds before Claire realized what was happening. She blamed it on her amusement and distraction of Dante singing "One Thing". The shot, Dante's weight upon her, the crack of his own gun being fired twice. She looked down at her vest, stained with Dante's blood then at the hole in the cobblestones. If Alfred had been a hair off, the bullet would have lodged itself in her flesh. She followed the trail of blood leading upstairs.  
  
As she entered the room the trail led into, she found Dante throwing a first-aid spray into the garbage.  
  
"Thanks for taking your time." he muttered. "I wasn't fast enough to find where that fruitcake went. But it smells like a trap." Dante thumbed towards a blue door. Claire nodded, knowing what he meant. This way first. She opened the door--  
  
--And found it to be quite pleasant. Two lounging couches, one which Dante immediately attached himself onto, a desk with an old typewriter and some plants for her herbal medicines--  
  
"Claire... check this out," Dante said as he tossed something to her. She laughed. It was the hemostatic that Rodrigo needed!  
  
"We have to go back to the prison now! Dante? Dante, are you listening?"  
  
"Why not relax for a while? I could get the vending machines out there to spit out a few snacks and drinks. You hungry?"  
  
"Famished, but we have no time for food--we have to find Steve and leave this place with Rodrigo." She started to pull him up, but he resisted, that crimson gaze back in his eyes. "I thought you sprayed yourself..."  
  
"You just head on to the prison. I'll wait for you here. Maybe a small nap could clear my head..."  
  
Claire did as she was told and left the room to get back to the prison.  
  
SLAM!  
  
'No!' Claire moaned as shutters overlapped the door to her escape. 'Dante was right, this WAS a trap...'  
  
"Welcome Claire. I see you fell for my... little chase."  
  
Alfred. Shit.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dante could hear what was going on in the next room. The shutters closing over the door and Alfred's insane giggle. But it seemed miles away. His demonic blood was used to the virus and attempting to use him against the full-blood Claire. The more he resisted, the more it hurt. He couldn't handle it anymore--he had to break free!  
  
Crimson eyes overlapped the ice blue and he crashed through the door, just as Alfred was saying, "I must warn you about your Dante..."  
  
Claire squeaked and trained her gun at Dante, pulling the trigger three times. A bullet through each shoulder and one in the chest, Dante kept moving. He needed blood... hot sticky liquid... was that his blood? Could he smell Claire's blood?  
  
He could sense her; smell her fear... an enhancement made by the virus infecting the demonblood.  
  
"If you survive this, Lovely Claire, I have my playground waiting for you," a giggle and Alfred was gone. Dante pounced. Three more rounds in the stomach, but it didn't slow the demon down. He landed on top of the small female form, lowering his head towards her neck. She struggled futily against his strong body... his demonic fangs bared--  
  
_"Dante... Dante, it's okay..."  
_  
His mother?  
  
_"Little brother... Mama said you're safe with me!"  
_  
Vergil...?  
  
Confused, the demon lunged off of Claire and busted through the only other way out.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Claire waited until her heart resumed a normal pace before sitting up. Was that Dante? It looked like him, but with a demonic gaze in his eyes...  
  
Whatever it was, she fired six rounds into him and he didn't go down! Usually a good shot on a zombie would make him go down in one or two, but six rounds and that demon hadn't gone down...  
  
... But why did it cease to bite her? Why did it... he flee?  
  
If it was Dante... Claire stood up, still shaking slightly. She checked the remaining rounds in her 9mm and followed the demon.  
  
There... crouched down slightly, the trench coat ripped slightly... it WAS Dante! Leaning up against a door--  
  
--door sliding just beside her... Claire turned to glance at a humanoid creature, one arm longer than the other. She glanced at Dante to see that he was in the same predicament. Bandersnatch... like from the poem... a creature with a long reach... face... grin like the reaper's...  
  
The bandersnatch lunged its arm at her but she dodged out of the way, bringing out her MT's. Perfect usage. The guns kicked in her hands as she spattered the wall with the bandersnatch's remains. Running down the stairs, she saw the other one fall to its doom, then the demon-like Dante flew through the next door, apparently avoiding her.  
  
"Dante!" Claire ran after him but stopped short as a bandersnatch swatted the demon to one side, turning its dark soulless gaze towards her.  
  
--The window--  
  
--Steve--  
  
She barely had time to think as Steve Burnside crashed through the window with the Lugers, catching the creature off-guard. He finished it off with style and looked at her.  
  
"Not bad, huh? Just in time to save you, Claire."  
  
"Thanks..." Claire looked around, spotting Dante sprawled on his back... next to a pair of sub-machine guns... "Hey, Steve... would you give me those Lugers if I gave you those guns?"  
  
"Yeah, sure!" He glanced at Dante warily. "What happened to your bodyguard? Looks like a wreck." Claire silently kneeled beside the demon and checked for pulse. Still breathing, too. She handed the submachine guns to Steve and glanced at Dante.  
  
"So who's carrying him?"  
  
"What?! Oh no, I'm not carrying that dead weight--"  
  
"Watch who you're calling dead weight..." came a mumble from the floor.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dante's head hurt, pounding constantly like the offbeat rhythm of his half- demon heart. Opening his eyes didn't do much good, either, as the lights were bright, even though the bay was two stories tall. He heard the steady click of a 9mm round lodging into its chamber and didn't have to open his eyes anyway.  
  
"I'm fine... I've calmed down..."  
  
"So, seven bullets could kill you?"  
  
Dante decided to open his eyes, staring at a confused Claire. He sat up and understood her question as immense pain saturated through his whole body. Painfully bringing a hand up, he lowered the gun in Claire's hands.  
  
"One in each shoulder... three in the stomach and one in the chest. Six 9mm rounds. Would another kill you, demon?" The Steve kid stared at him from behind Claire. Ignoring the pain from the wounds, he stood and turned.  
  
"I'll explain once we're off this island..."  
  
The floor below them started to move, knocking the three of them off- balance, Dante the only one to continue standing.  
  
"Tell me now, Dante."  
  
"I... I can't Claire, I'm sorry."  
  
-  
  
_End note from Fenice: The original song I had put for Dante to sing was "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen... as I reread it, I figured it wouldn't suit him any more than a country song. From the music in the background the first time we met Dante, it sounded like metal or alternative rock. I know. I listen to K- Rock (lovely, lovely Upstate NY alt rock station!) Ozzy, Evanescence, Finger Eleven, 12 Stones, Within Temptation... kinda Gothic too, by the soundtrack (I absolutely LOVE Nelo Angelo's theme!), but would he really sing Evanescence? Or what? I don't have any of Ozzy's earlier albums, or even Metallica (slaps self) so I was left with Finger Eleven, who totally ROCK!_


	5. Alfred's Playground

> **Disclaimer:** I own none of the characters in this story (only half-own Enzo, but no one cares...)  
  
**Recommended Listening:  
**Underworld Domain-Dargaard  
Maxx Unlimited-DDR Max2 Dance Dance Revolution  
Bloody Tears-Castlevania original soundtrack  
  
-  
  
-  
  
**Mitternacht  
**  
-  
  
**S**teve gazed at the guy from behind Claire, an odd feeling in his gut. Claire never really did say anything about where she met this guy, but he felt some sort of tension between the two. How could someone possibly survive a bullet to the chest, three to the stomach and one to each shoulder? Surely they would have died of blood loss, but it looked to Steve as if the guy didn't lose any blood at all by the way he was standing. Just stood there with his back turned to Claire, calmly telling her she couldn't hear his story. Well, she shouldn't be butting into other people's personal lives, but six bullets... six rounds pumped into her apparent bodyguard.  
  
"Dante," Claire sighed.  
  
Silence.  
  
"You wouldn't understand even if I did have time to explain it to you," Dante quipped in a raspy voice.  
  
"Time? To explain... is telling me the truth that hard? Who are you and why are you here, Dante?! Is it to save me, did my brother—" her voice became soft again. "Did Chris send you?"  
  
Silence.  
  
The shaft slowed to a halt as Dante stepped towards the door. Steve ran out from behind Claire.  
  
"Answer her, damnit!"  
  
"I answer to no one. Do you want to get out of here or what, pipsqueak?" He turned his head toward Steve, and he saw the ancient look in Dante's eyes, and Steve understood that now was not the time. Dante walked through the door.  
  
Steve looked at Claire, "Come with me if you want to live."  
  
Claire rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Ah-nohld."
> 
> * * *
> 
> * * *
> 
> Chris Redfield paced the room of the base that housed Barry Burton and Leon Kennedy. His big brother stature was wavering then coming back stronger as his worry for Claire deepened. He sighed inwardly and brushed a hand over his dark brown crewcut. The silence was thick, but good in Chris' mind. He had silence to think.  
  
_Claire... if anything happened to her,_ there was no doubt in how Chris would handle himself.  
  
_'She's only 19... supposed to be in college—'  
_  
"Chris! Get in here!" Leon's frantic voice carried through to the other room. His heart stopped, Chris ran into the other room where Leon stood beside the computer, glancing at the screen in disbelief. "Chris, she's alive, but for how long I don't know..."  
  
He sighed and read the message:
> 
> * * *
> 
> _--TO: Leon Kennedy et al (lkennedyrpd.net)  
  
--SUBJECT: I'm alive—  
  
---I'm on an island called Rockfort... an Umbrella Prison facility in the isolated Atlantic. 37S, 12W. Two other survivors with me  
  
---Island's infected  
  
---Umbrella's monitoring you, bro. Be careful.__
> 
> * * *
> 
> _  
"I've got to get her," Chris began as he started for the survival pack. Barry's large hand placed itself on the smaller ex-S.T.A.R.S. shoulder.  
  
"I'm going with you."  
  
"No. I have to do this alone. You two have to stay here and wait for Rebecca and the others."  
  
Solemnly Barry nodded and took his hand off Chris' shoulder.  
  
And Chris began packing.
> 
> * * *
> 
> * * *
> 
> He was there, Dante could feel it. Only remotely farther than he anticipated, but Dante knew that Albert Wesker had come to greet them all. _'But he won't get far,'_ Dante grinned maliciously. _'He won't get far.'  
_  
Dante plowed through a few zombies and searched the area for a better weapon than the shotguns he dropped not too long ago. He stopped and looked behind a fence. There. A grenade launcher.  
  
"Now that's the shit," Dante muttered as he rattled the gate to attempt to dislodge the lock. Nothing.  
  
_'Must be one of those electronic locks,'_ Dante grimaced. _'I HATE electronics.'  
_  
It was at that time Claire stepped past the door, then Steve.  
  
"Before we go any farther, check for possibly ammunition and weaponry," Dante began authoritatively as he turned back to the lock and began prying it open with a jackknife. Claire stared at Dante long enough for him to stop and toss the knife to her. "Don't look at me like that, babe."  
  
"You've been lying to me, haven't you?"  
  
"I said now isn't the time, okay? I can't be any clearer than that, Claire. Now find something useful, this night isn't over just yet," Dante commented as he backed up a bit. He'd had enough with the damn electronic lock that he might as well blast the damned thing to death. A carefully aimed bullet was just enough to short the fuse and he struggled, only slightly with the door. He placed his guns in their holsters and reached out for the launcher, a glint of excitement formed in his pale blue eyes. 'Who would leave a half-loaded grenade launcher lying around?' he thought as he gave the launcher to Claire. "I'll find some rounds." He grunted as he nodded towards a door on the far end of the fenced-in room, meaning he'd check in there. As he stepped near the door, however, a surge of pain swept through his person, caused by the demonic sword on his back.  
  
It wasn't the time or the place to check things out. So instead of travelling to a room that probably had more useful things to destroy, such as zombies and other such devils and demons, he decided to walk the path toward the exit, not waiting for the full-bloods to catch up to him.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Steve burned with excitement as his hands touched a cool case of shotgun rounds. He was sure the big dude had something for 12-gauge, so he picked them up and pocketed them, hoping to remember to tell Dante that he had some. Before he had time to speak, though, he'd seen the silver-haired freak give something to Claire. He had to admit he was a bit jealous, but it seemed from his side of the room that Dante had no interests in her at all. Almost like he was on a secret mission and wanted something specific. Not just a pretty woman by his side. He brushed his hand through his hair to attempt to rid his long bangs out of his eyes. They were starting to annoy him, to be truthful.  
  
The boy had finished looming in the corner of the room and inside an extra storage room when he heard a door open. Whipping his head around, he found that Dante had just gone through the door next to the farthest from him. He stood up straight and stretched somewhat, glancing at Claire to let her through the door behind the older man. He'd follow behind.  
  
When he entered the next room, which looked seemingly like a boiler room, he saw a flaming pile of Zombie to his right, a few more scorched to his left and none at the bottom of the staircase. He sighed in exasperation when he found that the other two were descending the steps, leaving him behind. He jumped from the third step up and made haste to catch up to them. Dante already opened the door and walked through as Steve and Claire caught each other's eye. She smiled slightly as if to say "it'll be okay once we get out of here". Right.
> 
> * * *
> 
> They entered a long, dark room with a narrow hallway, a stature in the middle shaped like a demonic lion's head with its mouth in an etched roar. Water ran beneath the bridged hall and as the three of them walked along the bridge, the half-devil first, they heard a shrill cry from more than one demon, as Dante would call them. Claire took Steve's arm as they pushed past the older man, who stopped and registered the noises. With his enhanced vision, he'd seen creatures climbing the sides of the room, a demonic breed of monkey and frog. Another shrill cry from below, and a shrill laughter that could only come from a Sin Scissors or Sin Scythe.  
  
As much as he wanted to stay and fight, he couldn't help but follow the pulling feeling he got when Claire and Steve made their way past him. Something to his immediate left caught his eye and he stopped as a monkey- like demon made its way to the bridge. Then two more, then five more. Their shrill laughter sounded in unison and they attacked.  
  
"Dante!" Claire cried out, but he just smiled darkly. They were low-class demons, he could tell. He brought Alastor out after placing Ebony and Ivory in their respective holsters.  
  
"Let's rock," he sneered and made his way to the first, second and third devils, slicing them in half with all the grace of a feline. He spun in place; Alastor outstretched as he grazed four more of the monkey-like beings. His trench coat trailed behind him as he repeatedly stabbed three of the grazed demons, and then swinging upward, elevating two of them as he quickly replaced his sword with his guns and fired into their stomachs repeatedly until they exploded. He then popped the last three in their narrow heads with a single well-placed bullet. He headed toward the fullbloods as the remaining monkey creatures fell limply to the water. "Piece of cake," he uttered as he entered the elevator shaft.  
  
"What the Hell WERE those?" Claire pondered, he arms folded around her body. Dante shook his head and checked the rounds left in his guns.  
  
"No clue. It seemed all-too easy."  
  
"It is... if this is Alfred's idea of a playground..." Claire muttered as she pushed the button to the 2nd floor. The tiny elevator jerked slightly then lifted a bit smoother, slowing to a stop at the 2nd floor. As Dante was closest to the exit, he looked around outside of the elevator, finding the only was to go was left. So he walked out, the fullbloods following. Another shudder from Alastor made him ease back a bit, letting Steve and Claire take the lead. Whatever the cause, he trusted the demonic sword.Steve opened the door then swept his submachine guns in an arc around him, making sure there were no surprises for the three of them, So Steve opened the door to an old wooden balcony overlooking a bunch of junk scattered all over below. Again Dante fell back, Alastor vividly warning him of an unknown terror.  
  
"We should find a way down, I think the exit's down there," Claire began as she and Steve stepped onto the wooden planks. Dante watched from a distance as the two fullbloods went down after the boards gave in under their weight. Standing at the edge, he peered down at the two, making sure they were okay. Steve seemed unhurt, but the girl was pinned under a chunk of the wooden planks. The splinters and barrels that were above fell around them and some debris caught her by her leg. The way she moved to get it out, though, it seemed she was also unhurt. But then he heard a moan from below.  
  
_'This doesn't look good,'_ he thought as he searched for an easier way of getting down. He still ached slightly from the bullet wounds, so jumping was out. That's when he heard Steve scream and rapid firing from the gun. "Oh fuck this!" Dante growled and leapt from the top, whipping Ebony and Ivory out and landed hard ready to attack, but Steve had already killed the son of a bitch. And he was... weeping...? Claire had removed herself from the debris and was holding him closely while the boy repeatedly sobbed, "Father".  
  
-  
  
It was a while before the boy could speak again. During the time of his strife, Dante had found an old sheet and lay it over his dead father, then dragged the body away into a darkened corner, the blood trail only blending in with everything else. Dante sat on a crate that overlooked the two fullbloods as Steve began his story.  
  
"My father worked for Umbrella, a truck driver. But secretly he was also helping this one other company, HCF. One day, an Umbrella operative caught him trying to steal a formula from the labs. It was a big mistake really."  
  
Dante shook his head. Fullblood humans were stupid; he had to admit it. Even his mother had her days.  
  
"My mother... she was at home, minding the house when they attacked. They killed her and took me and Dad here." Steve nuzzled into his arms more, his voice shaking. "I thought... I _WANTED_ to think he died in the Air Raid, but then... I didn't... I..." Steve fell silent.  
  
"Steve..." Claire began but was cut off by Dante.  
  
"Why don't you give the Hemostatic to your friend in the prison. I... I've got to talk to this kid anyway." Claire nodded and took off while Dante slipped off the crate and kneeled next to the boy.  
  
"Steve? Can you hear me in your little isolation there?"  
  
A grunt and a sniffle. Steve was listening. And it made Dante feel a bit better, knowing someone else had killed a loved one, though not on purpose.  
  
"Let me tell you a story about a man. A man, by all rights should have been dead a long time ago. When he was younger, his mother and twin brother were taken away from him by an unknown evil. His father had died before the man got to know him. The man's mother and twin tried to protect him, and in the end it cost them their own lives." Dante sat next to Steve, getting comfortable. The boy looked up at him, but the half-devil stared straight ahead. "For 20 years, the man fought the darkness, trying to find the one who left him alone without a family. And then a few months ago, a woman walked into his office. She looked just like his mother, so he was gullible enough to follow her to a deserted castle on an island. The man fought the demonic castellans to find the one who killed his family." Dante's voice hardened slightly. "And then he dueled with a creature with the exact same power as the man. He had the same techniques, and could kick ass in martial arts, knowing the man relied more on speed and weaponry. One time, the Dark Knight poised to kill the man, but something happened. An amulet shone on the man's chest, one that he wore ever since his mother gave it to him on his and his twin's birthday. The twin had the same amulet, mind you, but the Dark Knight let the man go for some reason."  
  
Steve was fully into Dante's story now, forgetting all about his own lost family. Dante rubbed his temples and combed back his unruly hair before continuing, in a half-not-so-steady voice.  
  
"The man had to endure more monsters and the Dark Knight again, well, twice more. But the final battle with the Knight, something happened. The Dark Knight transformed and looked almost just like the man's older twin brother. And that last battle, when the Dark Knight perished, he dropped an amulet. The same amulet that was around the man's neck. And he remembered. He had just killed his own brother." Dante whispered, "His own brother..." and sat silent for a while.  
  
"That was you, wasn't it?" Steve questioned softly after some time. Dante nodded. "Vergil and I used to do everything together, but when he went out with his friends, and dragged me along, all I did was sit and stare. I wasn't one for other people. That's not how I am." Dante stood up and dusted his trench coat off. "Come on, we have to get off this island, right?"  
  
Steve also stood up and gripped Dante's hand in a friendly, but tight, handshake. "Right!" As they started out, Alastor surged for the third time that night, the pulsating energy of danger, and Dante sped off towards the mansion, Steve hot on his heels. "Dante! Hey! What's up?!"  
  
All Dante said was: "Claire's in danger."


	6. Sometimes the Past Can Come Back to Haun...

> **Disclaimer:** I have no knowledge of me owning the company of Capcom. It'd be cool though, what with Marvel Vs. Capcom, and I'd put Dante and Wesker in it . So... this story belongs to me, but the characters belong to Capcom. Drat.  
  
**Recommended Listening:  
**Schwarze Sonne-E Nomine  
Dark Knight-Devil May Cry original soundtrack  
  
-  
  
-  
  
**Mitternacht  
**  
-  
  
**H**e stood no taller than 6', with slicked back blonde hair and a well-built body, due to years in the service. His attire fit perfectly well with the darkened background he kept himself in; from the polished black combat boots to the dark sunglasses that hid his precariously dangerous eyes. The air about him gave off a cultured demeanor, but he was cruel, as he was slick in getting his ways, no two ways about it. And he liked to get his way.  
  
Needless to say, Albert Wesker was indefinitely surprised to see the alleged little sister of Chris Redfield, creeping up the steps of the Ashford mansion. He adjusted his glasses to hide his keen eyes as he casually made his way to his prey.  
  
"Miss Claire Redfield, I presume?" Indeed, the girl was beautiful. Looked just like her... dear brother... The lithe brunette stopped upon hearing his voice and turned slightly. Oh, was she a looker, but for what reason was she on Rockfort?  
  
"And you are?" Apparently Christopher never told his blatant sister about Wesker. He smiled slightly and gave a short bow.  
  
"If there's nothing unusual about me, then I guess you don't need to know. Of course, your... ever-so caring brother would do so to not remember me, now would he?" She gave a slight start and backed up towards the door.  
  
"...Wesker?"  
  
"Oh? He had told you all about me, hadn't he? Well, just the same. Assuming you figured out that I was the one who bombed this island, you have to reason else to know why I am here then. But I have one more surprise in store for your brother... when he decides to show up." He had now gotten close to her; he could smell her fear, and it pleased him to no end. What he wouldn't give to bring her back to his new employers and cut her up as he did so with that wretched hunter's woman after he left.  
  
"What are you planning on doing?" Claire quipped as she slowly reached for a weapon, but Wesker was faster as he grabbed her wrist and with the other hand, grabbed her throat.  
  
"Observing. We'll see how your brother reacts when he sees your mangled body on this island," he chuckled as he tossed her haphazardly to the bottom of the steps. She landed on her back, winded slightly. She could have sworn she heard footsteps from the darkness, but then Wesker was above her again.  
  
"Why do you hate him so much," Claire managed to wheeze just before Wesker stomped on her torso, breaking more than a few ribs, taking pleasure in hearing her scream.  
  
"Hey!" A cry from near the gate interrupted Wesker's fun as he rested his right boot on her stomach. He glared from behind his sunglasses as the hunter appeared.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dante stopped quickly as he realized who was standing atop Claire. He defiantly looked into the antagonist's hidden eyes as his own shone crimson.  
  
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, you big asshole, instead of a helpless woman." Dante growled as he walked towards the two, Steve behind him.  
  
Wesker chuckled again. "You mean 'hopeless' right? Or are you just trying to replace your dead partner? Because believe me," he continued darkly, "this one will surely die, too."  
  
"You bastard, she's only a child!" pure white bolts of energy formed around Dante as Alastor sang her song vividly. His hands, which held his favored guns, shook slightly as he approached Wesker and Claire. Wesker, in turn, lifted himself off the girl and scissor-kicked her to one side as she was attempting to sit up. She landed with a dull CRACK on the pavement. Steve ran out from behind the half-devil and rushed to Claire's side as the two older men locked gazes.  
  
"I hadn't come alone, you know, Dante." Wesker began as two pairs of footsteps slowly closed the distance from the darkness. Dante gazed away from the other and went visibly pale. The first figure to emerge was a woman, tall, blonde and utterly gorgeous. Her glassy amber eyes shone demonically from behind long lashes. Wrapped in leather from a small choker around her neck to her high-heel boots, she carried a giant sword upon her back that Dante recognized as Sparda. The second form to emerge was an iridescent dark male. His cape fluttered behind him and his own silver hair was slicked back. Crimson eyes that were once a darker blue than Dante's shone brighter than his pale face. In his right hand was a weapon Dante could easily recognize: the pulse blade that his supposed brother carried as the Nelo Angelo.  
  
"No," Dante whispered, and looked back at Wesker with more anger in his eyes than he had before. He had to time to brace as a right hook knocked him off-balance. He stumbled for a couple steps, vexed.  
  
"You see, Dante, I had heard about you from my employers. It seems the blood that courses through your veins is the blood that began the research of the viruses. Hence, that is why these two are with me. They now WORK for me."  
  
The woman stood next to Wesker, leaning her head onto his shoulder, giving Dante an icy glare. The half-devil could only stare, unaware of the fullbloods behind him anymore. He took a step back: confused, hurt, angry. "What did you do to them?" he whispered as he looked Nelo Angelo in the face, seeing only his brother.  
  
"I made them mine, Dante. Made them mine with the sole purpose of taking you down. You see: I have outside powers that help me acquire what I want. Nelo Angelo, as he is so called, was given to me from the Eighth Circle of Hell. As I remember correctly, in 'Inferno' that is where the author and his guide went, am I correct?"  
  
"What the fuck are you talking about? _**GIVE ME MY FAMILY BACK!**_" Dante screamed, took a few steps towards Wesker, and was stopped by Nelo Angelo. "Vergil?" The Dark Knight waved a finger in Dante's face and hit him back hard enough for Dante to sprawl onto the pavement.  
  
"And now, as the Dante of yore had done, so, too will you. You shall be escorted by Vergil to the darkest depths of Hell." A small beep interrupted Wesker's speech and he glanced down at his wristwatch. He looked back at Dante and gently took Trish by the shoulder. "As much as I would like to stay and watch your demise, Mr. Hunter... I'm afraid my lovely lady and I have a small business meeting to attend to. Ta-ta." And with that, Wesker and Trish walked off, leaving Dante on his back looking up at his own brother.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Claire couldn't breathe without getting a stabbing pain in her sides. So she just lie on the pavement where she was kicked, Steve by her side.  
  
"Here, Claire, take this," the boy whispered and handed her a mixture of the red and green herbs. She gave a strangled gasp and placed the mix where it was needed. It wasn't much but it did dull the pain so she could sit up slightly.  
  
"What the fuck are you talking about? **_GIVE ME MY FAMILY BACK!_**" she heard Dante scream and sat up suddenly, watching as he landed hard on the pavement... watching as a tall, dark figure stood over him... watching as Wesker took off with Dante's partner... just... watching...  
  
It looked to her that Dante was holding back all he wanted to do: that he wouldn't—no—couldn't attack his antagonist. It was as if he didn't want to. She was brought back to her senses by Steve's touch, and looked up at his concerned face.  
  
"You okay there?"  
  
She managed a nod. "And you?" she uttered. Steve nodded. "Dante talked to me about it. But..." he looked back at Dante and the Nelo Angelo. "I think it'd be a good idea if we got back to the Mansion or someplace safe." Claire nodded and began to force herself up, but then she heard a short cry and watched in horror as Dante fell, sliding off the Nelo Angelo's blade. Energy pulsated around them as the Dark Knight came closer to them, and Steve brought out his guns, ready to shoot—knowing full well that he wouldn't survive an attack but—to save Claire. He picked her up as gently as he could and tried to distance them from the Nelo Angelo, but the guy was heading at a faster pace.  
  
"Steve—forget about me, go!" Claire said frantically as the pulse blade was raised above their heads, Steve and her backed into the wall. The boy opened fire, which didn't seem to hurt the Dark Knight as much as the shot that rang out from behind and lodged its bullet in his side. He turned to look, and as Claire peered around behind, she let out a breath that was held in since Dante was run through. He was standing again, one of his two guns hot and smoking... and he just smiled... sadly.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _'It has to end,'_ he thought as he brought himself up slowly, the enlarged wound healing as quickly as his devil-blood would allow. Staggering to his feet, he couldn't help but notice that his brother was turned towards the fullbloods. It was a weak spot Vergil always had. Dante slowly brought out Ivory and targeted the Nelo Angelo with the sight. 'Leave them alone, you bastard.' He cursed as he pulled the trigger. Ivory kicked slightly in his hand, the loud Crack of the gun barely touching his ears as he concentrated on distracting Nelo Angelo to let Steve and Claire get to safety. He knew he'd join up later. It was just a hunch.  
  
His brother turned his attention toward Dante, and he just stood there. As the Nelo Angel pivoted his body to face Dante, he and Claire made eye contact. 'Get out of here!' he pleaded in his thoughts, hoping beyond all hope that she'd get his message. But, distracted for that one second, Nelo Angelo lunged, swinging outwards. A stream of blood flowed from the younger of the two brothers and Dante was left to face reality. He'd have to fight Vergil to the end.  
  
Dante jumped back and unsheathed Alastor, the sword singing in his hand. His ice blue eyes glistened as he swung her, pivoting on his right foot. Alastor made contact with the pulse blade with a spark and Dante swung again, placing both hands on her hilt and hitting Nelo Angelo's side with a full force. The Nelo Angelo stumbled back, if only a few steps, before he gathered dark energy. He aimed his open palm at his brother and a black magic beam exited from his body and grazed Dante, as the younger dodged to the side and lunged at him. As Dante was about to strike, Nelo Angelo disappeared, reappearing at another part in front of the mansion.  
  
"You bastard." Dante breathed as he Triggered, the pulse of Alastor hot in his veins, "my brother or no, you've wronged me too many times to count in the past year. It has to end!" Dante quickly covered ground as he repeatedly hit Nelo Angelo with a Stinger attack until the Dark Knight smacked the younger away with a hard right. After stumbling slightly, Dante decided to use the Martial Arts he was so bad at... combined with the techniques of Alastor and his favored guns. The younger lifted his right leg up slightly, and pivoted with his left for a double roundhouse aimed at Vergil. Though, instead of the older being hit by the attack, he caught the younger's leg, proceeding to twist. Dante clenched his teeth and pushed off with his free leg and kicked Vergil in the face. He let go and both went down, Dante tucking under and rolling to a stand as he brought out Ebony and Ivory. His eyes held in any emotion as he shot repeatedly at the downed warrior. He only stopped once, letting Nelo Angelo stand again, then commenced firing once more.  
  
After dodging a final spray of bullets, Nelo Angelo swung with his mighty sword, opening an older wound on Dante's midsection. A curt scream and the Trigger wore off, but Dante wasn't about to give up then. To him, the real fight had just begun. He gripped Alastor tightly again after placing his guns in their holsters, and lunged, striking Vergil's leg, who stepped away from the attack. The older, in turn, swung his blade again, only to have it defended by Alastor. Two more times being defended and Dante swung fiercely, the blade of Alastor shining, flowing into Nelo Angelo's torso with a clean, yet sickening, spurt. Dark, crimson liquid poured from the deep gash and Nelo swung sloppily, Dante able to cut his defenses and perform Stinger, stabbing repeatedly into the wound he had just created. He then pulled off a brutal combo of kicks and sword techniques that would kill an ordinary human, but only found himself fazing Vergil more than he anticipated. As the Dark Knight fell back, a piece of older, dusty debris found itself lodged in the puncture-wound from the Stinger.  
  
Dante stood overhead, watching as his brother lay there.  
  
"If you're still in there, bro... I'm sorry," was all he said as he raised Ivory to Nelo Angelo's head, but the Dark Knight had a better idea to end his life. Black magic formed around the Dark Knight as he powered up for his final attack. Dante, a small twinge of fear in his cold, blue eyes, cocked Ivory and held a shaking hand in its position.  
  
Nelo Angelo, after gathering all of his remaining energy, formed the power into a compact ball between the brothers. _'If I can't beat him this time in battle,'_ he thought morbidly, _'I can take him down with this.'  
_
> 
> * * *
> 
> Steve placed Claire in the secretary's chair on the second floor, looking around for something more to stabilize her.  
  
"Are you sure you're okay, Steve?" Claire asked hesitantly, noticing him frantically looking for more medical supplies for her external wounds. Nothing could be done for her broken ribs, only hoping they didn't puncture her lungs. But if they did, he was sure she would have been dead by now. "Steve?" she called again. The boy looked at her and smiled with one corner of his mouth, then continued searching. He opened a box in the corner and picked out a bottle of antiseptic, a few gauze balls and Band- Aids of all sizes.  
  
"Thank you Alfred for not having a stupid secretary," Steve breathed as he placed the items on the cluttered desk, in front of an old typewriter. "Let me see your leg, first."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Back when we were in... you were caught under stuff and couldn't free yourself. Does it hurt?"  
  
Claire shook her head. "Not as much as everything else."  
  
"I can't fix the ribs." Steve said softly. Claire nodded slowly and tried to reach for the supplies but glanced at her wrist instead. Where Wesker had grabbed her had left red marks. She supposed on her neck as well. "What did he do to you before we arrived?" Steve replied darkly. Watching her gaze at her wrist. "He didn't... you know..."  
  
Claire had to laugh, even if it wasn't funny. They'd known each other only a few long hours, and he was concerned for her. "No, he just kicked me around a bit, telling me how much he hates my brother."  
  
"The prick."  
  
"Speaking of you two..." Claire pondered, "I wonder about Dante."  
  
At that time, they both heard a deafening explosion and a rumbling was felt. So fierce that they had to scramble underneath the cramped desk in case any debris — or the ceiling – decided to fall upon them. After the explosion, however, was silence. And then......  
  
"Something's coming inside!" Steve whispered as he crawled out from underneath the desk. Claire followed, and even though she was injured, she still moved smoothly, taking in the pain as a new strength. The door downstairs slammed shut and they heard a single footstep and nothing more. "I'm going down to see who – or what -- it is." He continued.  
  
"I'm going with you."  
  
_'Stubborn woman!'_ Steve's mind screamed. He ignored it and nodded, opening the door slowly. They tiptoed through the half-opened door and peered downstairs.
> 
> * * *
> 
> It was over... as Dante had promised himself. The tears blended in with the rain that had begun to fall as Nelo Angelo engaged his final attack. The pulse blast was enough to kill him, but with the virus not allowing the younger to die, there Dante stood, injured greatly, but still alive. As the rain fell, he dragged himself towards the mansion, hoping for dry heat and first aid.  
  
The blast had temporarily blinded and deafened him, so he groped his way along the ground, further blending the blood into the dirt onto his clothes.  
  
Red haze covered his eyes and that was all he could see.  
  
Silence was thick and that was all he could hear.  
  
The rain poured down. And as Dante found his shelter, he lay down and lost consciousness.


	7. Intermission

You are now entering an intermission...  
  
-  
  
-  
  
-LOCATION- .........  
  
--Seventh Layer of Hell-  
  
-VISITING-.........  
  
--Fenice Evangelista-  
  
-  
  
-  
  
The chamber to my cell opens as you, the reviewers, enter my domain. There shall be no reason to describe where I live because it changes frequently. Years in solitude in Hell had prompted me not to speak so I type my message on the keyboard in front of me as a large monitor appears in front. Hey, I may live in Hell, but I have my powers too.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
--Well, hello all. Nice of you to join me in my place of rest for this brief intermission. And I do mean brief. First of all, the recent reviews, numbers 31, 32 and 33, I believe, have prompted me, the authoress, to present to you... this intermission.  
  
For those of you who have not played Devil May Cry, this is, in fact a fic based after those events. I advise you to find as much information and/or purchase and play this marvelous game! Unless you're satisfied with Dante.  
  
Speaking of Dante.... for those of you who HAVE played the game and are criticizing my use of the half-devil, I apologize, but my note in the first chapter should have clarified that this is a more haunted Dante, not the typical bad-ass in the first game. (I shall not mention the abomination of the second)  
  
It is merely fact that Ebony and Ivory, though not in the game itself, WOULD and DO eventually run out of bullets. It's logic that states you cannot have unlimited ammunition in real life, and since I'm basing this fic in... Resident Evil, which is as real-life as a science fiction can get (meaning scrounging for ammo)... there you have it.  
  
I'm sure most of you have heard of "Bullshit Magazines" such as the "National Enquirer" (which I have clearly stated in the first chapter) and "News Weekly" and other such "Revelations!" "The world ends tomorrow!" and "Elvis seen with Bigfoot by the UFO in Utah" or even the famous "Alien helps Bush find Saddam".... Is all bullshit... from a bullshit magazine.  
  
Yes. And identical brother is considered a TWIN. and why the HELL would Eve say, in Dante's memories "Vergil, Dante, Happy Birthday" if they weren't TWINS?  
  
And about the Claire Helping Dante thing.. Wouldn't YOU help someone if you were a hormone-raging 19-year-old who just longs to be fucked by the first guy she sees? Whew. I hate stuff like that. No Dante/Claire. No Dante/anyone. and no Claire/anyone.  
  
I HOLD CLEAN FICS!!! The only thing perverted is my mind and some language like the above paragraph.  
  
I know this may seem to you like an Author's note, but believe me... it isn't.  
  
-  
  
By the way. you caught me on a bad two days.. I got a paper cut on my hand! Try to place a Band-Aid on that and work for 12 hours. T_T  
  
Okay... I said this was going to be brief, but in order to make this an intermission and not JUST an author's note:  
  
-  
  
Vergil Sparda sat on the steps next to his twin, Dante. They had just turned five, which wasn't much of a big deal when you've just learned that your father was a full-blood Devil and you were two half-bloods who could live forever until you were killed. And that's why Vergil sat. To think and to keep an eye on little Dante.  
  
Dante was getting so big, but still couldn't top the bulky 75-pound Vergil, who would only laugh if people called him big for his age. Yes, Dante was just a bit shorter than he was, and lighter, but for some reason, Vergil furrowed his eyebrows, 'For some reason, he can still better me.'  
  
"When is he coming back?" Dante asked, lifting his ice blue gaze to meet Vergil's azure blue. The older shrugged and smiled a bit.  
  
"I told you before, Dante. He'll be back," Vergil replied and then looked toward the icy road. "I know it."  
  
-  
  
Hey, I just practically gave you a preview! ^_^ Maybe I'll make a separate fanfic of Dante And Vergil... just waiting for Sparda. Hey! I like it!  
  
Okay, that concludes this brief intermission! Remember, all flames will be used as fuel for my place here in Hell, 'cause MAN! It's COLD down here!  
  
-  
  
What, you think Hell'd be HOT?! 


	8. Purging Myself with my Memories

> > > **Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone from Capcom... If I did, DMC2 would be a LOT better than it is.  
  
_A note from Fenice: Each chapter represents one hour passed in this fic. This is probably why it's taking so long to get to the good and final stuff.  
_  
**Recommended Listening:  
**Séance-E Nomine  
Das Rad Des Schicksals-E Nomine  
  
-  
  
-  
  
**Mitternacht**  
  
-  
  
_**T**he woman in the picture had beautiful blue eyes, long blonde hair and was wearing a red cape, which back then it didn't seem unnatural. Back then the unity between demons and humans lasted a lot longer than it did with devils. Back then, Sparda was alive and his two little boys were just as they were... two little boys.  
  
Dante found himself staring at his mother as she washed their earthenware dishes. He stared at her long enough to burn her angelic face into his memory. He glanced at the man at the table, on foot on the surface, the chair tipped back slightly so he could watch his wife work. Amber eyes peered past her delicate human features and Eve looked back at him. The man was handsome, she had no doubt, from his long white hair and his dark complexion, to the oddly pointed ears and muscular body underneath his chainmail and leather-plated armour. She smiled, but always wondered why he wore armour. He never told her he was the legendary Dark Knight Sparda, savior of all humankind from the devil of his world. He supposed he should tell her soon, but at the right time.  
  
_'My father... I act a lot like him,' _Dante thought. He noticed that he was invisible to them, so he stood and watched his memory unfold.  
  
"Vergil's surpassed Dante in height and weight," Sparda commented as he glanced at the other room where the two boys were wrestling on the floor. "But it still surprises me that Dante can topple Vergil."  
  
"Dante has his own strength, darling." Eve replied and dried her hands of the soapy water. The hot water, even on a cold winter's day, was enough to make the human woman glow, even a tiny bit. Sparda nodded in thought.  
  
"He'll be strong one day. He'll need that strength to topple his adversaries," Sparda replied, keeping his eyes on the boys. His amber eyes hardened slightly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Eve questioned, watching her husband's face with concern. He shook his head.  
  
"I suppose not... Evelyn," he turned to his wife, "I'm afraid there's a secret I have been keeping from you... from our boys."  
  
"A secret?" Eve tilted her head slightly and sat down next to Sparda.  
  
"Where I'm from... I'm a legend, a savior to say the least. You had always known that I wasn't normal, and now the truth is, Evelyn, that I'm not human. Neither are our boys. Almost two millennia ago a devil general by the name of Mundus rose to take control of the Underworld. I saw through his evil and alone I took on his defenses. I saved your race from destruction. But I'm afraid that it will be all in vain if I don't do something now." Sparda took a small breath and gazed into Eve's calm eyes. "I must return to the Underworld and make sure Mundus stays where I imprisoned him. I want you to take care of Vergil and Dante; tell them stories about me, and if I don't return, then I went in honour."  
  
"You must leave now?" Eve, though a bit flustered about a secret kept from her, wasn't fazed much by his truth. She reached her hand out to touch his cheek.  
  
_'No wonder Mother always told us about him... all the time...' _Dante thought as he leaned on the wall.  
  
"All for the better, my love. I must keep this earth safe from Mundus' evil," he stood and turned towards the two boys. "Vergil," he addressed the taller of the two twins, "Dante," the smaller twin with wind-whipped hair, "you boys be good. Take care of your mother and each other."  
  
Vergil raised his fist over his head and exclaimed, "Will do!" Sparda smiled, kissed Eve gently on the cheek and walked over to his two sons. He ruffled Vergil's hair and kneeled in front of the younger twin.  
  
"You're not coming back, are you?" Dante said softly, his face calm but his heart breaking. Sparda frowned slightly, thinking.  
  
"I promise I'll return one day. Only if you promise to lighten up, okay?" Sparda smiled slightly as Dante nodded. Sparda stood again and glanced at the both of them. "My boys. You have powers beyond human comprehension. Use them wisely." And with that, he was gone.  
  
-  
  
Dante found himself in their old bedroom as the boys were getting ready for bed. At their young age, they were able to sleep in the same bed. That and Eve couldn't afford anything better.  
  
"You think Father will return, Verg?" Dante wondered as he held his shirt in both hands. He looked at his brother in hopes of getting an answer, and was met only by a pair of pajama bottoms smacking into his face.  
  
"Of course he'll return!" Vergil replied as he sat on the bed, the only article of clothing on him being his pajama top and underwear. Dante threw back the bottoms and Vergil placed them over his legs. "He promised, remember?"  
  
"I suppose so," Dante muttered as he put his nightshirt on. A small knock on the door and Eve stepped in.  
  
"Ready for bed?" she asked and was met by two nods. She picked Dante up and placed him in the bed next to Vergil and sat on the end of it. "I want you two to have sweet dreams."  
  
"Of course, Mum," Vergil yawned. Dante looked at Eve.  
  
"Mother... sing us your song." He whispered. She smiled and kissed their heads softly. Very softly, she began her song:  
  
"In the field so green and so free, seeds gaze up  
The clouds keep them from the light  
And the sky cries white tears of snow..."  
  
Her voice faded and so, too did the scene Dante was watching. The haze toppled his senses until he felt the pain from the blast once more, and realized he could hear again._
>>> 
>>> __
>>> 
>>> * * *
>>> 
>>> Steve Burnside gazed at the unconscious figure lying on the desk again. The figure looked horrible, Steve wasn't sure if it was Dante or not, but a small voice in his head said that it was.  
  
And it was Dante... only covered in blood and cuts and bruises, burns from the explosion, and the outfit that was normally red leather became nothing but seared and tattered coverings. He felt sorry for him more than he did for himself or Claire.  
  
Dante, it seemed, had a deep impact on Steve.  
  
And Steve, on Dante.  
  
Steve watched as Claire wiped Dante's face off, her own contorted in a look of sadness and ferocity. She looked up from the figure and smiled at Steve. "At least he's still breathing... but these clothes are a wreck."  
  
"I'm sure with the training facility, they'll have clothes and with the showers..." Steve looked away, "When he wakes of course."  
  
"Of course." Claire looked back at Dante, keeping her body perfectly still to gaze at the sleeping figure. "Do you think that... with Wesker... Dante mentioned a Trish, but was that her?"  
  
"I don't know!" Steve snapped, still looking away from the two. His mind was somewhere else. Mainly the guy Dante had to fight to get him away from them. Nelo Angelo. Dante made mention earlier about his brother and...  
  
"Dante just killed his brother..." Steve whispered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That guy back there... Nelo Angelo, Wesker called him, that..."  
  
"Was Vergil," the sleeping figure, now awake, began.
>>> 
>>> * * *
>>> 
>>> As he opened his eyes, the red haze that covered Dante's eyes earlier had dispersed, but left a blurring that could leave in time. He tried to sit up, but was gently guided back down by Claire. Disgruntled, he pushed her away and sat up. He was fine, but knew otherwise that he didn't look the part.  
  
"You have a lot of explaining to do."  
  
"Shove the explaining," Dante growled and said nothing more. He was too busy checking his weapons and kept his mind on Wesker. He hadn't forgotten about his memory either, nor the battle with Nelo Angelo, as it was still fresh in his mind, and the worst of his pain. Dante swung his legs around to the edge of the desk and gently lowered himself onto the floor of the mansion.  
  
"Are you okay?" Claire squeaked softly after a few minutes of stone silence.  
  
"Fine." Dante replied harshly. He looked at the two fullbloods. His icy gaze softened slightly as he turned around. "I'm heading to the Training Facility. Wait for me here, it's safer."  
  
"No," Claire continued. "We stick together until this is over."  
  
"My but you're a stubborn woman," Dante replied sardonically and headed toward the large double-doors that headed out of the mansion. Footsteps behind him made him sigh and stop again. "You two are not following me around like a couple of puppies that just happened to be abandoned."  
  
They stood stunned as Dante opened one of the doors and, without looking back, left for the training facility. As he closed the door, he couldn't help but follow the trail of dried blood... his blood... to the last place he saw Vergil.
>>> 
>>> -
>>> 
>>> ... To find that the body had disappeared.
>>> 
>>> -
>>> 
>>> Dante wasn't the least bit surprised. Vergil always had a thing for leaving him. But it was all in the past. And perhaps it had ended. Dante wasn't sure as he made his way to the Training Facility.
>>> 
>>> * * *
>>> 
>>> "So what are we going to do?" Steve asked, looking at Claire as she nimbly checked the windows.  
  
"I'm going to follow him."  
  
"You heard what he said, Claire, you can't just –"  
  
"I know what I can and cannot do. He talks big but is still infected. I have to keep an eye on him... and get answers." Claire turned around to face Steve, but the boy had his back turned. "You stay here and see what you can find. We'll meet back here and we'll get out of here. All of us. Even Rodrigo."  
  
"But what about your wounds?" Steve didn't turn around, but his fists were tightly balled.  
  
"I'll be fine if I go slow enough. My brother's Chris Redfield, remember?"  
  
"How could I forget?" Steve mumbled sarcastically. Addressing Claire he said, "Well, fine. Do what you want. I'll search for medicinal supplies and perhaps some food too."  
  
"I saw a few machines in the Training Facility. I'll get some there and store them in the purse I found the Hemostatic in." Claire opened the door. Steve was about to say something when she closed the door.  
  
"I don't want to be alone..." he muttered. He sighed and looked around the spacious front room, gazing at the tiles of the floor to the poles in the lobby, enticed at two that had been pierced by bullets, followed where the bullets hit the floor all the way to the door at the back. The door at the back. Steve managed to stumble out of his position, his feet not wanting to move when his body did. Instead of landing on the floor, he managed to keep himself up and head towards the corner door. He opened it slightly before remembering that there were no zombies... not any that would return to their used bodies.... And pushed it all the way.  
  
He entered a hallway, stepping into it and hearing something breaking underneath his foot. A piece of an expensive earthenware vase. He glanced down the hallway and saw that there was a whole other room he forgot to investigate on his earlier adventure. Steve rounded the corner and observed one of them lying on the floor; face down in a pool of its own blood. He kicked it to make sure it wouldn't get up. Backing up slightly, he decided to head to the room behind him, break some glass and load a couple of those guns in there. So he did.  
  
When he came back out, the zombie was where Steve left it, but just to make sure, he popped it in the head with a few bullets. He then, with ease, pushed the double-doors open to see what lay behind them.  
  
Nothing really of interest to Steve in the room that opened up to him. It was nothing but an Ashford history lesson. He snorted and looked around anyways. In the far back was a shattered urn, apparently nothing inside. A closer look concluded...  
  
The same thing.  
  
Steve groaned outwardly. "Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing! Why isn't there ANYTHING in this God-Forsaken place?!" he screamed and chucked a piece of the broken urn. It hit a picture of a beautiful blonde woman (underneath, the caption was written: Veronica), and the canvas, despite the frailty of the marble urn piece, tore into two clean halves. Both of the halves fell from the frame, revealing a small hole in the wall. A shimmer of light came from the hole in the wall, sparking Steve's interest. He went to go examine it.
>>> 
>>> * * *
>>> 
>>> Claire Redfield gently strode towards the Training Facility after Dante. She knew she shouldn't be on her feet, but with the suspicions that arose during the seven hours she's been there... talking with Dante, observing him... something definitely wasn't right about him. Six bullets... standing after being mortally wounded... she needed answers.
>>> 
>>> -
>>> 
>>> And so she trudged along at the ready, heading to the facility.
>>> 
>>> * * *
>>> 
>>> Dante made his way through the Training Center to the showers and locker room. He wasn't thinking clearly, but who could at that time? All that went through his mind was Vergil and getting himself and the fullbloods off the island. He passed a mirror and took a glimpse of himself. From what he could see through the cracked glass, he looked fine.  
  
It was a trick with Devils and halfbloods like him and Vergil. After a while one's wounds would heal, and at the same time left few scars.  
  
Dante's hair was still coated with a bloody crimson sheen, from the battle with Nelo Angelo. He decided a shower of sorts would do him well, if only let it cascade down his body while he thought of a way to purge the virus from his system. He might have a way if he could stay away from the fullbloods for a few minutes.  
  
Nobody needed a zombie half-devil.  
  
He closed his eyes as soon as his back hit the shower stall. Thinking of a way to get rid of the virus... thinking of a way...  
  
-  
  
And Dante found himself somewhere else again.  
  
_-  
  
The mist hung low and thick in the place Dante had found himself. He could see nothing, even with his enhanced vision. Nothing but a thick haze that surrounded him.  
  
Dante took a few steps forward, the echoes of his heels clicking on a hard pavement seemed to continue forever, and he wondered where he was. Even the silence couldn't hold the sound of a pin drop.  
  
Footsteps approached him, and as he dropped down into a stance, he realized he had no weapons. And the mist parted, revealing a shadowed figure walking towards the half-blood.  
  
"Dante..." the figure uttered, his soft, yet deep voice echoing around. "It's been too long." He continued as he stepped into the light.  
  
"...Father...?"  
  
Sparda nodded once. "You realize why you're here."  
  
"Last time I checked, I was at the Training Facility's showers, hoping for a miracle." Dante replied, easing out of his stance and looks down at his tattered and torn leathers. Sparda smiled warmly. "And this is my miracle, I assume?" Dante asked.  
  
His father nodded.  
  
"You've been watching over me all this time, haven't you? When I defeated Mundus... when..."  
  
"All this time, my son," Sparda replied. He placed a gloved hand on his son's shoulder. "And I'm proud. We both are. Of you and Vergil for surviving this far." Dante looked up into the amber eyes of Sparda.  
  
"Vergil... is alive then?"  
  
"Rather than dying there, I protected him and... freed his soul, so-to- speak."  
  
"Is he..."  
  
"One cannot say. He hasn't chosen this path, yet it is the path he must walk," Sparda looked thoughtful. "The path he had chosen for himself was a Protector... for his brother." He looked at Dante. "His nobility and honor had kept him from killing you, for the real Vergil was still fighting."  
  
Dante looked down again. "The amulet... but Trish has the amulet now... and the Sparda."  
  
"Have faith."  
  
"The virus..."  
  
"This meditation will allow you to restore yourself as you want."  
  
"Meditation?" He looked at his father again. The older held sadness in his eyes as he stepped back and raised his arms above his head.  
  
"I... I'm glad I was able to see you again, Dante. You've grown into a fine young man, capable of protecting the humans."  
  
"Father..."  
  
"In the mansion, you will find the key..."  
  
"Key?"  
  
"Just have faith..." A light formed around Sparda and he spoke no more. Dante on the other hand, had more to say, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. The light dissipated form Sparda and he disappeared, but within Dante, he felt the strength of his father twofold. Violet light surrounded the half devil, and he felt his own strength returning._
>>> 
>>> -
>>> 
>>> In the instant his body was renewed, he returned to the showers, in Claire's arms.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
_Another note from Fenice: I apologize for the exceptionally long wait for this chapter, but you probably understand writers blocks. It'll be even longer before chapter 8 is out, since I'll try to make the chapters itself longer (about 8-9 pages in my word now... my goal is to make them about 14-17 pages long). I've overloaded myself with too many fics (still have to update The Allegiance) and promised artworks for my friends. I swear I'll get to them all!  
  
I have most of this plotted out for what happens at the Antarctic Base (Kudos to Shakahnna for giving me clips of Alexia's transformation!) and the ending. And maybe it's a good time to say: If you like this fic, it will continue on to another DMC crossover. And only a couple people know what the cross is going to be. _


	9. Family Heirlooms

_**Disclaimer:** You know what goes here..._

_**Recommended Listening:**  
DJ Maven – Next Heaven  
Android Lust – Stained_

-

-

**_Mitternacht_**

-

"Are you back with us now?" Claire asked softly as Dante opened his eyes. He stared at her for a few seconds and pulled away, standing steadily.

"Why'd you follow me?" he asked as he dusted off his outfit, which seemed to have repaired during the meditation... the meeting with his father. His father... As Claire was about to answer, he waved his right hand in a dismissing fashion. "No need to answer. Where's the other one?"

"Back at the..." Claire stopped and looked at him well enough to notice that his eyes no longer showed a crimson glow. "I... told him to stay put." She finished slowly. Dante blinked and stretched his arms, checked his weapons again, and walked past her. "Where are you going now?"

"Where do you think? There's something I have to check out..."

-

-

Steve Burnside gazed intently at the round object in his hand, burning with a fiery glow. It was about as big as his balled fist, and as smooth as a weatherworn stone. Why it was behind a picture in the first place, it was his guess, but someone had to know what the object was. Though it burned bright, the stone was cold in his hand.

He exited the room quickly to wait for Dante and Claire in the front lobby when he felt a cold chill run down his spine. He continued running towards the lobby, not noticing blood-red eyes from the shadows of the hallway. Dark, feline-like figures emerged from the shadowy corners, followed by a bone-chilling cackle and the sounds of scissors being snipped closed. Shadows, as they were called by their victims, sped behind the redhead and formed into a large bird, striking down where Steve's heel was a second ago. He rounded the corner, entered the lobby... and was met by giant puppets wielding knives and various other blades. Their faces were contorted into an evil grin, painted with bright shades of blue and red, their yellowing teeth filed to a point. It was obvious, even to the untrained eye, the strings used to pull them upright. Their whole body was made of wood, save for the blades and fabric. Weaving between the marionettes, Steve found himself caught at the foot of the stairs, surrounded by demon puppets and ghosts of sorts. He glanced quickly at the globe in his hand, pulsating with bright red light.

-

They were being attracted to the object.

-

-

A sinking feeling was found somewhere in-between Dante's gut and heart. There was something at the large mansion they were heading to that seemed overwhelmed in darkness. And he didn't like it. He could go so far as to say he feared whatever was inside. Hordes of Underworld beings, Shadows, Marionettes, Sin Scythes and Scissors...

In his mind, he pictured quickly, a blessing for his guns. Running out of ammo twice wasn't enough, he needed plenty to take on what was to come. In his mind, demonic symbols aligned, and Ebony and Ivory felt warmer, a small etch of the symbols on their barrels. Claire was far behind Dante because of her ribs, but he had no cares. There was blood about to be spilled, and he had no need for it to be a fullblood human's.

He waited for a few seconds, to ready his guns, before bursting through the doubledoors and witnessing the dozens upon dozens of demons surrounding Steve. And then he saw it. The blood-red stone in Steve's hands. Steve looked up and they locked eyes. The boy raised the object up higher and Dante nodded. Throwing the globe, Steve jumped over the railing and ran for safety behind the older. Dante followed the orb towards his person, raising Ebony towards it to make contact. The barrel of the gun hit the orb back into the air and an instant later he pulled the trigger. The orb exploded into thousands of pieces, raining down upon the horde of Marionettes, Shadows and Sins. As if daring them all to attack him simultaneously, he casually stepped down the stairs, one at a time. And in each step, his aura shown... an intertwine of crimson and azure.

A stray shadow leapt out of the horde and attacked the halfblood first. After it, the rest of the shadows and the sins after them until Dante was surrounded... blocked from Steve's gaze. The redhead looked back and saw Claire limping up the stairs. In the instant he turned his head, Dante let out a burst of energy, entering his Devil Trigger.

Blood-red wings spread from the shoulder blades of the halfblood, his eyes shown crimson and his power increased tenfold. Around him, it seemed the demons slowed immensely. He was able to fire a dozen rounds into one shadow before moving on to the next; the marionettes fell with one blow to its hollow head; and the sins' masks shattered instantly, even without the shotgun. And in half the time it took him to down three to five shadows, he defeated an army of demons.

He stood in the center of the lobby, glaring at Steve and Claire, watching their faces carefully. After a minute of complete silence, he turned and headed up the stairs, heading left. He broke the locked door down, turning back only when he was alone. He smiled and looked up, past the ceiling of the casino-type room.

"Thanks, father."

It's not over yet, a voice in his head replied. Though Dante wasn't tired, he sat on the piano's bench, playing it one key at a time. He never much liked the piano, but it was his mother's favorite instrument. He recalled the baby grand in the living room, facing out towards the yard, where Evelyn would sit and play the piano, watching her two sons.

-

_In the fields so green and so free  
Seeds gaze up  
The clouds keep them from the light  
And the sky cries white tears of snow_

-

Slowly, until he remembered the entire lullaby. And Dante wondered whether Claire and Steve decided to follow him this time.

-

_But still, the fragile seeds wait long for the sun to shine  
Dark winter away, come spring  
My young seeds once again will look up to the sky  
And I know they will grow strong_

_My young seeds once again will look up to the sky  
And I know they will grow strong_

-

A panel somewhere behind the bar slid open and Dante stood up. "Weird... but what constitutes weird these days?" he wondered as he jumped over the long counter into the back, finding, within the vintage bottles of wine and other such liquor, a small music box. He picked it up and wound it up, listening to the keys pluck out his mother's lullaby.

He stood transfixed, unaware of the two fullbloods that finally decided to grace his presence.

Claire and Steve stood at the doorway, listening to a lone music box play it's melody. As it slowed, they walked to the bar, looking on as Dante stood unmoving, eyes on the music box.

"Dante?"

"My mother... sang this song to us as a lullaby." Said person whispered. "She never recorded it on paper, why is it forever entrapped in a music player?"

"Is this the 'something you had to check out'?" Claire replied. Dante nodded and placed the unwound music box in his pocket.

"We should move on. We've spent too much time already. Did anyone check out the other rooms?"

"I did on the first floor. Nothing but a conference room and that room that held the... what WAS that thing?"

"Bloodstone. It attracts all sorts of Demon-spawn. You're lucky nothing else was attracted to it."

"Demon-spawn? And what about-"

"Don't ask questions. Let's get a move-on." Dante spat and jumped over the counter and out the door, heading towards the opposite end of the mansion, which was turning out to be a large office building, just without the height. He knew they'd follow eventually, so he went ahead and opened the door to the secretary's office.

Computer on the desk next to a typewriter... this reminded him... he hadn't found any greens. 'I bet it's all on an online account.' He thought coldly. 'And I know just who could crack the code.' Dante sat down on the chair in front of the computer and started searching for an e-mail service of some sort.

Found one.

He cracked his knuckles and started typing, hoping he wouldn't regret it.

-

-

**TO: Enzo Ferino )**

**SUBJECT: It's Dante...**

-

Finding nothing on where the damn money is so I'll have to rely on your skills, Ferino. Find an account with the name "Ashford" or "Umbrella Corporation" and milk them for all they're worth. If I have to endure this place, I'm bankrupting one or the other... or both. You do this for me and I'll give you, oh say... 10? No more than that, you know what damages I go through.  
Afraid to say this, but you already know my account number, don't you? Hell, we've known each other for years...  
Anyways, forward the rest to my account. That's a good boy. You wouldn't break my trust, would you? If you did, I wouldn't consider you for the position of my partner, not that I need one.  
Should be back home in about, oh... four to 7 hours? Don't bother me, I'll be sleeping when I get back.

Dante

-

-

"Ten percent, ya bastard. That should satisfy you," Dante muttered as he sent the message. He stood up again as Claire and Steve entered the room. "Nice of you to join me. Care to continue our journey?"

"Dante..." Claire exhaled deeply, "I'm starting to feel tired... let's rest a bit, okay?"

"You two can if you want to," Dante replied, walking past them to go around the corner. "I need to finish what's been started. Finish off the Ashford dick and Wesker..."

Deep silence filled the stagnate air as the three gazed at each other, each wondering what the other was thinking.

"... We stick together from now on... whatever happens... we go through it together. I'm sick of being separated," Steve piped up as he took a step forward, despite Claire's total lack of function. He braced himself for the next step. "Claire... let me carry you."

"Careful..." was her response and he gently lifted her onto his back. He walked a couple of steps to meet Dante again. The taller one watched him cautiously then turned back to the door in their way. There was a plaque on the door holding a place for two guns. Two... Luger-sized guns. He shook his head. What kind of idiot...

"And I suppose I'm the guardian again?"

"Yeah. And don't forget, we have a bunch of questions for you when we do have a chance to rest," Claire reminded him. Dante sighed.

"I know." Dante gazed at the two behind him again then bent down slightly. He had no time for puzzles... the stupid Luger-sized indents can kiss his ass. Using all of his demonic strength, Dante lunged shoulder-first into the door, ramming it down, the door tearing from the hinges... taking part of the wall with it. Dante dusted himself off again and headed for another wall. This time it looked a more intricate conundrum. They had no time for puzzles, as he mentioned earlier. He knocked on the wall, looking for an opening or a doorway of some sort. He found one next to some sort of armoire-type thing... Dante wasn't sure, but it would be in ruins in a few seconds anyways, so he didn't care.

"I suggest standing back, you two..." Dante muttered as he gripped the hilt of Alastor and brought it off his back. He wedged the tip of the blade between the wall and the armoire, forced it far enough to find a void on the other side of the wall, and pushed the hilt of Alastor to the right slightly; using more vigor each time he pushed until a small crack appeared in the wall. Dante replaced Alastor on his back, placed his gloved hands on the unit, and pushed, keeping his back straight for more power. The entrance was exposed completely after a mere 30 seconds of Dante forced the wooden shelf back. He randomly dusted himself off and brought out Ebony and Ivory again, nodding to Steve to have him follow the hunter.

The passageway was long and wide enough for the two of them to walk side-by-side, but Dante insisted they walk behind him, in case other such devils should emerge from the shadows. He stopped, gazing up at a small mansion on a hill close to where they were.

"That must be where they're hiding." Steve said as he gazed around Dante's broad back. Dante grunted in response.

"Doesn't seem to be any lights on," Claire replied from behind Steve. The boy set her down as he caught his breath. They'd go slow enough for her. Steve would, anyways, but Dante only stopped long enough to survey their surroundings and what he had to go up against. Then he was off again.

"Dante! Wait up!" Steve beckoned. The hunter ignored the cries and kept going.

"Lights are off, doesn't mean no one's home." Dante replied. "Let's go."

-

The passageway led them through overgrown gardens, the flowers long-since dead and the vines overcrowding the cherubs with the broken faces. They were met by a couple Bandersnatches, but nothing Dante couldn't take out quickly with his renewed strength in a few shots. The three of them climbed cracked marble staircases to reach the smaller and plainer, but eerie mansion. Dante wondered if they'd reach the Ashford brat in time to take him out before he fled like a pussy again. In due time, he thought as he held Ebony and Ivory in their respective hands, the muzzle of both guns pointed to the sky as Dante readied one kick to open the doubledoors. As his boot collided with the door, it snapped back and hit the wall quiet enough for the three intruders to enter undetected.

But they forgot about the bats.

The once-bug-eating hunters were now swarming to get a taste of the newcomers' blood. Dante wouldn't have any of it as he carefully aimed for each of the flying rodents and pulled the triggers. One after another the bats fell to the floor, twitching; dying in their own blood, unable to taste the humans'. The three looked around in the dim candlelight.

The foyer was huge, littered with books in one corner, a staircase in front of them that headed to the second and third floors, another door to their left. Everything was caked in a layer of dust, including the dolls that watched the intruders with their unblinking, glass eyes. Every corner had at least twenty of them and along the shelf closest to the door to their left. Dante followed the stairs to the third floor with his eyes and looked past the floor to a centerpiece on the ceiling.

"Take a look at that," he whispered as he pointed to a life-sized (or larger) doll, hanging from its plastic neck. Its dress was tattered and torn and its dusty, flaxen hair curled around its shoulders. Claire was sure it was Alexia, but she took another look to see the joints of the legs. Dante stared at the doll for a bit longer until he heard the faint sound of a door being opened. He looked to the second floor.

"You're late," the woman, who walked through the door, replied. Claire glanced at her; black leather zip-up vest, armband on the left wrist to elbow, waist-length blonde hair, and lethal knee-high black spiked boots. Something sparkled on the woman's person and she saw an amulet around the woman's neck, an oval bloodstone... or a garnet, she couldn't tell. A giant sword lay on the blonde's back, and Claire remembered her from the confrontation an hour or so back.

-

Trish.

-

Dante looked at his former partner. Trish, whom he thought was dead, was right in front of him... bearing the amulet and wielding the Sparda. He had to get them back, if he was never to have Trish again. It was the least he could do for his father and brother.

"Better late than never." Dante replied coolly. Trish looked thoughtful for a second, glancing at the devil hunter. Her soulless amber gaze looked down upon the three of them as she descended the stairs diligently. "Where's Wesker?"

"He is currently searching for something of use for his new employers, HCF. The Ashford girl is our target. We won't let you have her."

"It's not the girl I'm after. It's the pansy boy. Move out of the way, Trish. Don't make me hurt you," he replied as she stepped off the last stair. She came face-to-face with Dante, eyes glowing.

"I'm afraid I won't move for you, Son of Sparda. Not even if you beg."

"Beg? That's a good one," Dante chuckled. "Let the fullbloods through. You have no business with them, she-devil."

Claire's eyes widened slightly. He just called them... fullbloods? What did that make Dante?

Trish sighed in frustration as she replied, "Fine... I'll let them pass. But we finish what we started at your office, Son of Sparda." She stepped aside to let Steve and Claire past her. The brunette locked gazes with the white-haired hunter.

"Dante..."

"I'll be fine. Go find the freak."

Claire nodded and soon the only beings left in the foyer were Dante and Trish. Each brought out their respective blades. Trish sneered. "I know what you want, Dante... you can't have them back unless you pry them off my dead body."

Dante shrugged. "Have it your way, babe."

-

-

Alfred cowered on the bed as Alexia yelled at him. Even in her rage, he found her beautiful, like a delicate flower caught in a violent storm. Her lilac dress swirled around her dainty ankles as he paced the room, glaring at her brother.

"You... how could you let the hunter purge himself? I thought you had it all under control, brother..."

"I do, my sweet Alexia." Alfred replied shakily. He knew he would do anything for his sister, protect her to the death. Especially from that rat Redfield and the filthy prisoner. Even the mouse, Dante.

"Now they've infiltrated our home, Alfred! Our sanctuary! No filthy creature was allowed here when we were younger... The OR1's are not helping the situation if they continue to be... exterminated by that... Son of Sparda. We have to get rid of him somehow... We need to get the other base and—"

Footsteps on the other side of the room. The twins were too late on reviewing their new plan. Something had to be done at that very moment. Alexia spied her brother's rifle at the foot of her bed and grabbed it before Alfred had time to look. "I'll handle the situation on my own, brother. This is twice you've failed me."

"Alexia, please!"

The door opened.

-

-

Sparda and Alastor clashed as opposite sides fought. One was for the enemy; one for his family. Dante stepped back and swung his weapon towards Trish's abdomen, who defended herself with the Sparda. She then drew her hand back in offense and hurled a crackling ball of lightning-energy at her opposing force. After letting go of the ball, she lunged forward, giving Dante little time to dodge both attacks. To no surprise, he flipped back and to the side, feeling the heat of the ball lightning as it made its way into a bookshelf, exploding on contact. He had no time to breathe as she was on top of him again, the only things between them being their weapons.

"Face it, Dante, I'm much stronger than you."

Dante snorted and replied, "I'm gonna have no trouble ripping that amulet off you if you're this cocky."

"Look who's talking," she retorted and broke away, jumping back to widen the distance between them to about a meter. Neither showed hints of wear.

"Trish... it doesn't have to end this way, you know," Dante half-pleaded. She rose the Sparda again and launched herself at him. Attack after attack was blocked by Alastor; and every lunged at him made Dante angrier. He momentarily recalled the battle with Mundus where, even though she betrayed him, Trish pushed Dante out of the way to save his life. It cut to where she lent him her power to take the hellish devil down. In the present, Dante's eyes began to glow a dangerous crimson as he pushed away from Trish's latest attack and whipped out Ebony and Ivory, lashing out in a barrage of bullets. Trish, having barely anytime to react, was hit with most of the inundation. Bloodied up by the recent attack, Trish continued her offensive action and Dante, as a last resort, performed a series of ticks with Alastor to send Trish to the ground where she lay still. He shook his head and clicked his tongue as he walked to her still body.

"Trish, Trish, Trish. You never listen to me, do you? I never wanted to hurt you."

Her eyes were half-opened and her breathing labored as he lifted her slightly. He ripped the amulet off from her neck and set her back down, picking up the Sparda and placing it where Alastor usually rests. He put the amulet around his neck and held it for a little security.

"Dante... have you... a g... guilt trip?" she gurgled as her world faded into darkness. Dante looked back at the lifeless body and replied, "Wesker killed you. Not me." And with that, he headed up the stairs to meet up with the fullbloods.

-

-

"Claire Redfield, I presume," Alexia responded as the girl and boy opened the door. In Alexia's hand was her brother's rifle, aimed and ready to fire. "And you brought the scum with you." The two dirty children stared blankly at her delicate features. She was about to say something else, when a barrage of gunfire was heard from below. The brunette closed her eyes in what looked like a silent prayer for the fallen. It sickened Alexia so to see such pity. In the silence, she decided to continue. "It's amazing you've gone this far, but your lives end here." She aimed the laser at Claire. It's over, she contemplated with a sneer. As she was about to pull the trigger, however, she was met by a bullet to the shoulder. Her finger, in reflex, pulled the trigger to the rifle, falling as it kicked back, hitting the tall, white-haired Son of Sparda in the forearm. She got up quickly and split through the secret door.

-

"Dante!" Claire cried as said man stepped back, curiously examining the wound he had a second ago from the .22 that was fired.

"I'm okay. Was that Alfred in drag?"

"I'm pretty sure," Steve answered. Dante chuckled and chased after the nutcase, the fullbloods following. They went through a secret door that connected the twins' rooms. On the bed was a lilac dress. The same one Alfred had just been wearing. And on the dresser...

"Take a look..." Claire pointed to the flaxen wig on the dresser and a battle cry came from the terrace of the bed. Dante easily pushed the attacker to the floor and held Alastor at his throat.

"Now, Alfred, I've had enough of these games!" he growled. The person on the floor looked up with dignity. In a womanly voice, he answered, "Alfred? Can't you see I'm not my idiot brother?"

Dante blinked, confused. "Well, okay Alexia... take a look in the mirror, babe."

Diligently Alexia turned. And was horrified at what she saw. It was her face, but Alfred's body; his clothing, his hair, but her face. She screamed and ran out of the room, tearing her... his coat-sleeve on Alastor on the way out.

"You know, I almost pity him, thinking Alexia was a real person." Claire said after an awkward moment of silence. Dante shook his head and looked at the top of the terrace.

"Looks like an entrance to an attic..." he muttered as he jumped lightly onto the terrace and pushed the door open. "I'll investigate up here. You two find anything you can to work with." The two nodded and he went up onto what looked like a carousel. "Weird." He glanced around and stepped off the carousel. He checked the shelves, where he found a few proofs. Figuring Alfred left them here in case someone wanted to go 'Bye-bye' Dante stashed them in his trench coat, setting Alastor down to do the job. After he picked the demon-sword back up again, it again gave off a tingling vibration that something was about to happen. And he glanced around for the last time in the attic, picked up what he thought the three of them needed, and jumped from the carousel onto the floor of the bedroom below. "Anyone but yours truly find anything?"

"Nothing."

"Nada."

"Well, then it's high time we got out of here, because I have the strangest feeling that – "

"**_Warning... the self-destruct button has been activated_**," A calm, sexy voice called from over a PA system. "Who the FUCK has a self-destruct button for a damned island?!" Dante demanded. Claire shrugged. "Apparently this one," she replied. Dante groaned in frustration, picked both Steve and Claire up; juggling the two of them and Alastor in his arms, and got the hell out of the mansion.

-

-

_**Authoress' endnote:** Woo! Another chapter out! I think it would have been out sooner had I not had to figure out how to end the fight between Trish and Dante. Next chapter promises tyrant, stuff blowing up and more Dante! Don't miss it!_

_I'm overdoing it with the enthusiasm :-D_


	10. Return to Hell

_**Disclaimer:** I only own the games. Capcom owns the rights._

_-_

_**Recommended Listening:**__**  
**Skindred – Nobody_

_Angst? – Eisbrecher_

_Castellorizon – David Gilmour_

_Left me for Dead – Rob D._

-

-

Mitternacht 

-

Dante figured they had enough time for him to stop and set the two fullbloods down as soon as they reached the main mansion. He looked at Steve and then at Claire and back at the boy.

"Do you have a way off this island?" he asked. Steve nodded and Dante gave Claire a look as to say "stick with him". "Get out of this place and I'll catch up with you."

"I did find this seaplane in the hanger. But it needed Proofs to get inside the plane." _Proofs?_ Dante reached into his jacket, pulled out three hexagonal objects, and gave them to Steve.

Steve hesitated. "Where'd you find them?"

"They appeared in my trench coat as if by magic. What, are you stupid? I found them! Now go!"

Steve obliged and picked Claire up; holding the proofs tight, and ran off towards the dock. Dante watched them until they disappeared from view. And as he watched, a familiar smell tickled his senses. For behind him, five black creatures stepped out of the shadows. Their padded paws squelched on the rainsoaked pavement and hidden claws clicked with each step. Crimson, glowing eyes gave away their positions and Dante struck as the creatures let out a battle cry and flowed swiftly and elegantly towards the hunter in attack. The half-devil whipped out Ebony and Ivory and began firing on the demons as he backed away. The bullets weren't doing him much good, and it became apparent as soon as he heard the wailing cries of the undead behind him, that he was surrounded. But he didn't sweat it as he let the Devil half of him take over. The Shadows fell one by one and he was able to position Ivory behind him to shoot at the zombies. As the last devil fell, he placed the twin pistols in their holsters and jump-kicked the last of the undead, decapitating them.

"_Four minutes until detonation." _

"Four minutes… no prob," Dante replied to the computerized voice and he ran off in the direction Steve and Claire went, following their previous path. He reached the door to get to the office when he heard a low growl. Turning, he found himself face to face with two Bandersnatches, their long arms pulling back to attack. A small smirk played on the half-devil's lips as he lifted his guns to the creatures and pulled the triggers. Chunks of flesh flew off the Bandersnatches with every shot they took until the monstrosities found themselves lying in a pool of their fluids as they choked on their last breath. Dante sighed and ran through the door, wondering why the two fullbloods didn't run into any danger. In any case, he was glad they didn't since he didn't think they would survive the horde that he came across while reaching the lobby.

Upon reaching the lobby, however, Dante heard a familiar bone-chilling laugh. Sin Scissors and Scythes appeared from the walls, well, floating through the pictures on the walls, as Dante could see, thrusting at the half-devil with their demonic weapons. He jumped backwards and onto the railing of the stairs, surfing down onto a Sin. He slid on top of the creature; towards the main entrance and jumped off onto the top of the stairs.

"Sorry. No time to play," Dante commented and shot at the nearest Sin, breaking its mask and watching it disintegrate into the floor. He shot a few more times at the Sins and then casually left the house. In front of him were two ways to go after descending the stairs. To his left was the way to the Training Facility. To the right was where the fullbloods went. But also to his latter way was a multitude of creatures he'd never seen, before the attack in the facility. He shook his head and sighed exasperatedly.

"When will they learn?" he muttered as he blew through the demons with Alastor

-

-

With Claire on his back, Steve struggled to run towards the doors, rotting corpses at his back. He held the proofs in one hand, a pistol in the other, and Claire held her gun; her other arm was around Steve for support.

"Almost there. I found it when we parted and saw we needed these…" Steve began as he held up said proofs.

"I'm just hoping Dante gets here in time…" Claire replied. Steve snorted and opened the door to the hanger.

"He's got a couple minutes to get here. Why do you care anyways?" he asked as he set Claire down. Claire gave Steve a glare and walked slowly to the lift. Steve continued as he started over and placed the proofs in their spot. The lift whined loudly as it stopped at their feet. Steve stepped on, holding Claire tightly to his back.

"I don't know… I just… do," Claire muttered as the lift lowered to the door of the plane. They stepped foot inside and he sat Claire into the co-pilot's seat as he took the pilot's. Steve looked at her for a minute before studying the controls. An uncomfortable silence filled the cockpit, knowing that the island would blow at any moment. Claire nervously checked the door for any signs of Dante.

"How's your side?"

"I'll live. I want to thank you for carrying me around…" Claire stopped short when she heard a loud bang at the plane's side. The door opened and a familiar face entered.

"Move kid, I'll start this thing," Dante said as Steve stood up. The older jumped over the back and into the seat, starting the plane with ease. Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Can't use a computer, but can fly a plane?"

Dante shrugged and eased the plane out of the hanger, getting it in the air before the island self-destructed. Steve and Claire cheered. "Free at last!" Steve revelled.

"I want to take a shower when we get back to civilization," Claire commented as she combed her hand through her hair. She slowly stood up, gaining some equilibrium before walking behind Steve. The young redhead gazed at her; from her mud-clod boots, dirt-streaked long legs, ripped shorts, torn vest and up to her slightly mud-streaked face and into her scared-looking blue eyes.

"You look and smell fine, Claire," Steve replied. Dante kept himself quiet. Something was wrong and he could sense it. It wasn't long before his premonition came to pass. The plane shook violently and an alarm sounded. "What's that?"

"Rear hatch is open. Probably nothing," Dante said. "Take the controls, kid, I'll check it out."

"I'll come with you," Claire interjected as Steve sat where Dante was. Dante shrugged and told Claire to take a few objects from the safe box near the door to the cargo bay. As she stuck her head in the box, Dante kicked her inside. Claire yelped when she connected with the bottom of the wooden box. As she looked up, Dante said, "Stay in here," and closed the lid. Darkness enveloped the girl as she deeply regretted following the white-haired man.

-

-

Dante, after shutting the lid of the box, placed a heavy typewriter on the lid to keep her inside. Whatever was in the Cargo Bay area was nothing for her to be standing around and letting it attack her. He turned towards the door, Ebony in hand, and turned the handle. After using some effort to keep the door in control, he slipped into the cargo area and slammed the door shut. He could feel the pressure escaping rapidly, attempting to pull him towards the back where the rear hatch _used_ to be. What was left was now a gaping hole, and whatever was loose on the plane was now miles away in the sea where they were above. But it was nothing he was concerned with. For in front of Dante was a monster that looked freakishly familiar, and yet not in the least bit. It was large and humanoid, but rather different than what he's dealt with at the Prison island.

'Handsome', as Dante called it, towered over the half-devil and twice as large. Was large as well as nude, but also sexless and gray skinned. The weapons it held were not weapons at all, but his hands. On his left was a spiked club, and his right held a mixture of small and large, painfully sharp, blades. Dante was glad Claire wasn't in with him. It would be hard enough to get the monstrosity off the plane as well as keep the bitch in tow. He glanced at the floor where the strange creature was standing. _A hydraulic track_, Dante thought, _but where does it come from?_ Handsome seemed to be staring blankly at the white-haired figure before it. It took a slow step forward as Dante found the start of the track. He turned to his left, spying a control panel that operated the track. _If I can get the bastard weak enough… _

He spied the creature again, about 15 feet away. Glancing at the track again, he shook his head and looked back at Handsome, who was now 5 feet away. Dante raised an eyebrow and ran towards the monster, jumping and using its head for leverage to get over. He landed at the edge of the bay, feeling the pressure try to sweep him off his feet. Handsome stood stunned for a second then started to slowly turn around to face the half-devil. Dante waited until the creature was 10 feet away before he charged again, this time with Alastor. He sliced at the creature and ducked away before it could have a chance to attack. And Dante stopped again in front of the panel. He glanced at the crates behind him on the track, kicking a couple to hear that a couple of the crates were empty. Handsome turned again and ducked his head under, quickly charging at Dante, minimizing the distance between them.

The half-devil mused at the large monster's sudden speed. For once again, Handsome was 5 feet away. Dante ran to his right before it had time to corner him in front of the door and smash one of his only plans to get rid of the creature. But he only went so far as the giant zombie turned and lunged at Dante, its left hand extended up to attack. As its club swung down, he raced away again, whipping his guns out and repeatedly shooting the creature in the back. The bullets sunk in, exposing tissue rather than bleeding vital fluids.

"Okay. Bullets are no good," Dante muttered as he searched for something else to attack the creature with.

-

-

Claire didn't enjoy being in the box. In fact, she thoroughly hated it. She punched at it only to find that the wood was hard and something was on top to keep the lid secure.

"Damn that bastard," she muttered and maneuvered herself so that she was on her back with her knees bent; her feet at the top. Despite the growing pain in her ribs, she coiled her legs so that her knees touched her breasts and kicked as hard as she could. The typewriter on top of the lid bounced off and clattered loudly onto the floor; the lid lifted hard to where it choked at its hinges. The girl murmured unintelligently and rocked back onto her butt. Now ignoring the burning pain at her side, she stood up and hopped out of the safe box. Upon looking into the safe box again, she spied a bow-gun and various ready- made bolts. She smiled and picked the weapon and ammo up, hoping it comes in handy for whatever's on the other side of the Cargo Bay door.

"What's going on back there?" Steve asked without turning around. It was for the best that she did not answer that question.

Claire opened the door to the Cargo Bay. Ran in and shut it; moving quickly due to the cabin pressure. What lay before her was, well, she couldn't really describe it in one word. Dante was fighting a monster twice the size of him. And despite that they were neck and neck; she found her ability to move and aimed the bow-gun armed with explosive ammo, at the giant monster. She fired three times into its torso, and the beast seemed to slow down a bit, giving Dante time to glance at Claire. He smiled, saying in his own way that he'd had an idea. Dante jumped over the beast to land behind it and pointed to the computer, then to the crates on the hydraulic track. Claire nodded. And the beast was moving for Dante again. He lured it to the edge of the open hatch and Claire shot at it again with three more well-aimed bolts. Instinctively she slammed the release button down and the crates were pushed hard towards the beast and Dante. The half-devil leapt off to the side before the crates hit the beast. Only something went wrong. Instead of trying to push the crates back in attempt to stay on the plane, it snagged Dante's red leather trench coat and went flying off the plane with the half-devil and a dozen or so crates.

"Dante!"

-

-

Dante was sitting on Handsome's chest whilst they were falling, trying to un-snag his trench coat. After a few minutes, he tore the article of clothing away from it, kicked the mutant undead in the face a few times and flew off in his Devil Trigger. Back to the island that had exploded. It wasn't far off and Dante had a feeling there was another ride coming onto that island.

After he'd landed and regained his humanoid form, Dante took a look around. The island was still there, but most of the building had been completely destroyed, with fires still burning brightly into the night sky. He kicked over a few dead devil bodies, putting a few holes in their head before moving on.

Dante trudged over to where Alfred's plane was, and in its wake was a Harrier. He paid no mind and headed towards the remnants of the prison area. As he neared the prison, Dante spied more dead bodies of Devils he'd been used to fighting for the past 20 years. He'd kicked a Bloody Mary onto its side and saw that its wooden jaw was ripped out; an oozing black liquid draining from the remains of its face. He heard the familiar click of a bullet entering a gun chamber. A male's voice spoke softly, but sternly, behind him.

"Are you one of those Devils too?"

A small smile played on Dante's lips. "A little harsh, are we?" he answered and whipped around, avoiding the round that was fired when he moved, and stuck Ebony into the lower torso of the man's body. He didn't fire. "You must be Chris Redfield." He pushed the muzzle of his charcoal-colored gun into Chris's torso to push him back. Dante stood to his full height and put his weapon away.

Chris Redfield was about an inch shorter than Dante and still held many his boyish qualities.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't cap your ass? How did you –"

Dante didn't let Chris finish as he held a gloved hand into the air. "Claire's safe as far as I know."

"As far as –"

"She escaped on a sea-plane a few minutes ago…" he interrupted again. Chris gave a skeptical glance to Dante and was about to say something when her heard someone else call his name… They both turned and before Chris could register who it was, Dante tore after the figure, his sword drawn.

"WESKER!" he shouted, and, attacking with feral speed, stabbed repeatedly at Wesker. The blonde humanoid dodged all but three of the Stinger attack, his torso getting much of the blade. Wesker stumbled back a few steps and was ready to attack, but decided to go after the more human of the three, as he renowned the fullblood as the weaker of his two attackers. He _moved_ directly in front of Chris and grabbed the younger's neck, lifting him up, squeezing at the same time.

Wesker, you're alive?" Chris choked as he tore at the older man's hands, trying to loosen his grip on his neck. Wesker sneered.

"As alive as I've ever been, and I see you're still the same Boy Scout I trained years ago."

"But—but you—" Chris struggled more, smacking the humanoid in the face, skewing the sunglasses. Wesker's head snapped to the side, deciding to let his sunglasses drop to the ground, and glared at the younger whilst Dante skidded to a halt meters away and whipped around. He stared at the two men in front of him, glaring at Wesker in particular.

"You insolent fool…" Wesker's eyes glowed a bright orange-red, his feline-like pupils narrowed to a slit. Chris's own eyes widened.

"What did you do to yourself?"

"I made myself better. However, my affairs are my own." Wesker turned his head and stared at Dante who held his blood-soaked sword at the ready. "Son of Sparda, we meet again, although I'm afraid I have no one to entertain you with."

"Cut the small talk and get your ass over here so I can kick the shit out of it," the half-devil growled. And at that very moment a shrill laugh echoed throughout the area. Wesker threw Chris to the ground and stared ahead for a second. The laugh receded and Wesker glanced first at Chris who was recovering from being nearly suffocated, then at Dante.

"You two are not my targets today. Alexia Ashford and the T Veronica Virus are." He turned to Chris again. "You'll find your sister in Antarctica. If we meet again, we finish this." And left without saying another word.

Dante clenched his fist and put Alastor away as Chris stood up, rubbing his neck. The red marks where Wesker had him were apparent. "So… there was an Alexia after all…" the older mumbled.

"What?"

"Let's go to Antarctica. There are some things I need to figure out."

Chris stood silently. After a few seconds, he headed to his Harrier, Dante following.

-

Dante sat silently as Chris manned the Harrier. Thousands of thoughts ran through his mind, much of it leading to how he was going to finish Wesker off. The younger turned his head and opened his mouth to say something. For a few minutes he just sat there, wondering what to say.

"There's nothing to say, so lay off," Dante muttered. Chris shut his mouth and turned back toward the nose of the jet.

"You remind me of someone," Chris finally managed to say. "Someone I met a few years ago… a month after I joined S.T.A.R.S." It grabbed Dante's attention and he stared at the younger.

"How so?"

"You look like him, actually… I think you two could have been twins."

Dante fell silent. Chris took advantage of it and continued.

"He warned me of… well… everything that happened in Raccoon City. Warned me it was going to happen. Then he just… disappeared. I never got his name. But you look like him."

"Bastard knew it was gonna happen…" Dante mumbled, "didn't think he'd tell anyone…"

The Harrier fell silent again. After what seemed like forever, Chris opened his mouth again. "Never got your name."

"…"

"Well, you knew mine, so it's only fair that I know yours."

"… Dante… look, wake me when we get there. I've been up two days straight," he answered and stretched in the co-pilot's seat, closing his eyes.

Chris looked at Dante." Sure," he said hesitantly.

---

After arriving at the Antarctica Base, Chris immediately set off after Claire. Dante stood back and glanced at the building.

"It's definitely been used recently." He muttered. Chris stopped and looked at him.

"It's cold out here, we have to get inside to find my sister."

"Ha. From what I've seen thus far with her, she can take care of herself," Dante remarked, but followed behind Chris anyways. They soon found themselves facing a small horde of undead scientists.

"Great, they're here too."

"Uh, it's a fucking Umbrella base. What did you expect, Boy Scout?" Dante replied and hacked into two zombies at a time. He cleared the horde in seconds, before Chris could even move an inch. "Let's go before the Calvary arrives." Chris agreed and followed the half-devil inside.

"So what the hell are you anyways?" Chris asked after a while. Dante struck down another zombie and uttered something too soft for Chris to hear. "Come again?"

"I'm a hunter. I have a job to do and I intend to do it. Now that it's personal I can't get out."

Chris sighed, "I know what you mean."

"You know nothing of what I mean!" Dante spat and slammed a stray zombie's head into the wall, dislocating it from the body. Chris kept quiet, looking around. He spotted a large door and pointed to it.

"Let's go that way."

"Sure, whatever."

The boys entered through the door into a large room, one that didn't fit at all with the rest of the surroundings. The room reminded Chris of a ballroom in a fancy mansion… or the foyer from the Arkley mansion. He shuddered when he spotted a large silky form dangling from a wall behind the stairs. He squinted his eyes to see that the head of the form had red-brown hair.

"Claire!" He ran over to the wall and took out his survival knife.

"Move over, Boy Scout. I'll handle the silk," Dante said and sliced it off with Alastor. Claire fell into Chris' arms and he cradles her until she woke up.

"Chris!" they hugged. The older Redfield helped the younger to her feet when he stood up.

"Come on. We have to get out of here."

"Not without Steve," Claire replied. Dante looked around.

"Where is the little bugger?" he asked. Claire jumped when she heard his voice. She turned and stared in shock.

"You're alive! But… but I saw you fall with that monster!"

"What I'm not allowed to live now? You make me feel great, woman," Dante mumbled.

At that moment, a shrill laughter echoed throughout the room, and as they looked up, they saw for the first time the real Alexia Ashford.

"It is almost time, you genetically inferior siblings," was all Alexia said. Dante lifted an eyebrow at the disregard of himself. The three of them ran after her up the stairs; Claire first, then Dante and Chris. Suddenly a large tentacle came out from nowhere and smacked Dante aside, knocking Chris down to the bottom step again. Claire stopped and stared with apprehension as she watched Dante struggle to his feet.

"I'm fine, go help the kid!"

Claire obliged and Dante went over to help Chris up. "You okay, Boy Scout?"

"Nothing I can't walk off," Chris replied. Dante led him behind a pillar and was about to head off after Claire when he heard a voice speak.

"I've found you, Alexia."

-

_A note from Fenice:_

_I'm almost to the end! Woot! Then I can work on the sequel. You know, I should really start on the sequel before I end this… so I don't have months after months of dead-air, am I right?_

_Since this next one could be the last chapter, I'll try to make it the best chapter I can make. To be honest, I've been so busy with family and getting accepted into ITT Tech in Liverpool, NY that I've not much time nor inspiration for this and my other fics. But I SWEAR to the Gods that I'll finish them._

_A **GIANT** thanks goes out to Shakahnna who proofread this chapter and who has been helping me along with the events in the game. Another thanks goes out to whoever decided the book "**Resident Evil Archives**" was a killer idea. It's also helped me out a lot._


End file.
